Reminisce
by notcreativeenoughtomakeone
Summary: After five years of searching, Ulrich finally finds Aelita and resumes dating her again. Soon it becomes apparent that Aelita new life is much more complicated and their relationship is tested like it never was before.
1. The Hypnotist

**_This story was done by request of krazyfanfictionfan231. I've played around with the idea of another AelitaXUlrich story, but never really fleshed it out until now. It was easy to write, until the ending that I've flipped flopped on so many times. Took me longer than I thought it would, but I finally decided on the ending and I just may stick with it. The story is told out of order, so the order of events are scrambled. _**

**_I do not own Code Lyoko. _**

* * *

Aelita sat down with a glass of water as the club went on around her. It amazed her how quickly her following had developed, and how fast a club could reach maximum capacity when she took the stage. The word commonly used by her fans to describe her music was 'hypnotic'. The Hypnotist was her stage name accordingly.

The club had booked her for a three hour show, which she completed and was just waiting for the owner to come and talk to her. She was contracted for four months, and this was the last show on the contract, so they were going through the preliminary paperwork before anyone's lawyer or manager was brought in.

Aelita looked up from her phone and saw the owner had sat across from her and they started talking business.

"I gotta be honest, I underestimated your pull," The owner said and Aelita smiled with a shrug.

"I can make deals without my manager present. Flatter me," Aelita said and took a sip of her water, and the owner swore to himself. Couldn't rip off a sober woman.

"Six months, seven a month, same schedule," The owner said and Aelita giggled and shook her head.

"Seven? The Ozone offered me three months at eleven," Aelita said and the owner leaned into his seat.

"That's only thirty three, I just offered forty two in writing."

"Do you think renewing a contract is an issue for me?" Aelita asked and the owner smiled at her as a waitress dropped off a shot for him. He downed it quickly and groaned.

"Nine for six months," The owner offered and Aelita smiled.

"Sounds agreeable, call Richard, you two can work out the legal stuff," Aelita said and shook his hand before grabbing her coat and leaving. Going out the front door she smiled at the bouncer who smiled back as she zipped up her coat and looked across the street.

Someone standing across the street made her freeze where she was. He smiled at her, and walked over till he stood in front of her.

"Long time, huh Aelita," he said and she had to find her voice. She swallowed, looked down for a moment, then back up.

"Five years is a long time Ulrich," Aelita said and managed a weak smile.

"Care to talk?" Ulrich asked and Aelita nodded and pulled out her phone and started texting.

"Who's that?" Ulrich asked.

"I was going to a friend's, just telling them I'll be late."

Aelita usually took a cab home considering the distance a young woman would have to travel at night. On a typical night she left the club after her set at approximately nine o'clock. After the cab ride she was at her building, up the stairs, and at her door ten minutes later. Tonight however, she walked with Ulrich.

After five years of not seeing each other, the awkwardness was present and thick. They walked side by side, sharing glances, then turning away. Aelita opened her mouth to speak, and when she did Ulrich turned and she stopped.

"What?" Ulrich asked and Aelita looked straight.

"How did you find me?" Aelita asked and Ulrich pulled out his phone and opened a video. It started to load and Ulrich handed her the phone, Aelita stopping to watch it. When it started she heard her music playing. It was a video taken on someones phone in the crowd from a show she did a few weeks ago.

The camera panned the crowd and stopped at the stage. The camera zoomed in, and she saw herself at the turn tables. Aelita let out a laugh and covered her mouth and handed it back to him.

"What's so funny?" Ulrich asked, and Aelita couldn't stop laughing.

"I've never seen myself on stage, I look like shit," Aelita said and Ulrich chuckled as well, putting his phone away, "How did you find that video?"

"Yumi did," Ulrich said and Aelita remained quiet, not sure what to say.

"How are...the...others...the others doing," Aelita said and Ulrich shrugged.

"Jeremie and Odd are still in school. Odd's in Venice last I knew, some art program. Jeremie is interning while going to school. Yumi and William moved in together last year."

"Yumi and William? It has been five years," Aelita said with surprise, "How long did she fight that one for?"

"Yumi asked him actually," Ulrich said and Aelita smiled, "Are you still mad at her?"

"That was six years ago. I can only hold onto a grudge for so long. It was still a bitch move but I have no hard feelings anymore," Aelita said and Ulrich chuckled and looked at her.

"That was a memorable day. It was the first time you yelled at me."

* * *

**Six Years Ago**

Junior year ended before any of them knew it. Senior year for Yumi who was leaving for college. William was going as well and they had a party at Yumi's house the weekend before she left. No one else from the school came, it was just the gang sitting around her living room talking.

'Remember that time?' was a very popular phrase on these kinds of occations. Odd couldn't tell a story without using his body so his were always the center of the room, the source of the laughter and the most animated. Everyone laughed and said their goodbyes and when they'd visit and when she'd visit.

"Seriously, I'm only a two hour train ride," Yumi said to everyone as they mentioned how the group was finally splitting.

Most of the arguments seemed to have been gone, as Jeremie was talking to Aelita without it being awkward and Yumi to Ulrich. Aelita saw Ulrich talking to Yumi when she walked into the kitchen for another drink, and didn't care because she just came from talking with Jeremie.

"Hey you two," Aelita said when she walked in and opened her fridge.

"Want your man?" Yumi asked and Aelita smiled.

"Can we talk for a bit?" Aelita asked and Yumi looked at Ulrich who kissed Aelita as he left the room.

"What's up?" Yumi said and Aelita hugged her and Yumi hugged her back.

"My best friend is leaving," Aelita said and Yumi smiled and reassured her.

"You'll be fine, you're a big girl now," Yumi said and Aelita giggled and they looked at each other.

"Any apprehensions?" Aelita asked and Yumi shrugged.

"Yeah, I mean I'm leaving my family and all of my friends. I have so many memories with all of you," Yumi said and Aelita looked around the corner to make sure no one was near.

"There is a reason I needed to talk to you," Aelita said and leaned back in, "I'm late."

"Late for what?" Yumi asked and one expression from Aelita's face changed the entire context, "Oh shit, are you serious?"

"I wish I wasn't. I know you and Ulrich had that scare last year, do you still have any of those tests?" Aelita said and Yumi leaned to look as well as nodded. Together they quietly made their way to her stairs straight passed everyone and no one even batted an eyelash.

Soon Aelita was in the bathroom that connected to Yumi's room while Yumi leaned against the door frame.

"I didn't even know you and Ulrich...you know," Yumi said as Aelita was almost finished and now they had to wait, "When was your first time?"

"Mid terms," Aelita said as she pulled her jeans back up. She stepped out of the bathroom and they walked to Yumi's bed to sit down. They both looked at the test as it finished, then at each other.

"If you had told me, a few years ago that we would both at one point, have a pregnancy test in our hand from the same guy, I'd say you were insane," Yumi said and Aelita giggled and looked at the test.

"This thing takes forever," Aelita said and exhaled slowly, and nervously.

"How late are you?" Yumi asked and Aelita nervously giggled then got really nervous.

"Three weeks," Aelita said and Yumi lost her voice.

"Three...I...what..." Yumi stammered, having no idea what to say while having plenty to say.

"I've been so busy with finals I just didn't notice," Aelita said and Yumi sighed and they heard the test finish, "It's one of those face ones, please tell me frowny face is negative."

"It is," Yumi said and Aelita let out a huge sigh of relief

"I'm so relieved my stomach hurts, is that weird?" Aelita said and Yumi shook her head.

"I had the same reaction," Yumi said and they smiled at each other.

"I'm really glad, that wasn't your last moment with me," Aelita said and they both giggled and Aelita walked into the bathroom, wrapped the stick in seveal layers of toilet paper to avoid an awkward conversation in the future and threw it in the trash. When she came back Yumi had a different expression now, and she had no idea what it was.

"Yumi?" Aelita asked and walked over to her, "You okay?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Yumi said and stood up, "Let's just enjoy the party."

"I can't when I know something's bothering you," Aelita answered.

"Its just...not fair to complain about this to you," Yumi said and Aelita walked to her bedroom door and closed it.

"What?" Aelita asked and Yumi looked at her floor, then back up and sighed.

"It bothers me...you two are already sleeping together," Yumi said and shook her head at her own feelings on the matter. In reality, it bothered her that it bothered her.

"Really?" Aelita asked, genuinely shocked.

"It shouldn't bother me, but I think it's because it really does close the book on Ulrich and me. I can't change my mind anymore," Yumi said and shook her head at her own hopelessness. She thought she sounded pathetic.

"Yumi, I want you to give me an honest answer. Do you think you made the right choice, breaking up with him I mean?" Aelita asked and Yumi thought about it.

"I don't know. Being single at first it's liberating. It feels so good to not be tied down like that anymore. Then it's boring. Then it's lonely," Yumi said without looking up at Aelita.

"Then you relapse," Aelita said and Yumi nodded, "Then you start a friends with benefits relationship."

"Then he says no," Yumi said and started crying.

"What?" Aelita asked and Yumi moved away from her, "Yumi."

"I tried to get back together with him, two weeks after he started dating you," Yumi said and Aelita just looked at her, "I'm so sorry."

"What happened, Yumi...the truth, did he sleep with you?" Aelita asked and Yumi shook her head.

"No, but I tried. I tried to make him cheat on you," Yumi said and Aelita stood up off her bed, not sure if she was going to do something, but getting the distance in case she wanted to.

"What the fuck Yumi," Aelita said and grabbed the door handle, bottled her rage, and turned around to face her again, "That's the worst thing you've ever done."

"I know...I...if you want to slap me, I won't do anything," Yumi said and as Aelita felt her hand curl into a fist, but relaxed her hand and just left the room. Aelita went down stairs, grabbed Ulrich as she walked through the living room then stopped in the kitchen.

"Why didn't you tell me Yumi tried getting back together with you?" Aelita asked and Ulrich froze in shock, unsure how to answer while wondering how she knew.

"Nothing happened."

"That's not what I asked," Aelita said and Ulrich exhaled slowly.

"Does it matter?" Ulrich asked.

"Yes it fucking matters!" Aelita shouted at him, making William and Odd lean into the kitchen. Aelita groaned and grabbed his arm to drag him to the backyard.

"Now, why?" Aelita asked again.

"I don't know, we had just started dating and I didn't want to have that fight so early," Ulrich said and Aelita shook her head.

"Why would I be mad at you? Do you have any idea how much it took to not tear her head off when she just told me. She dumps you, then she drags you behind for months, and I have to pick up those pieces. I did. I did because I know the kind of person you are and I wanted to be with you. So I waited, and helped you get over her. I made sure you had the space and the time, and then you asked me.

"Then she has the nerve, after everything to just waltz up ad say I changed my mind," Aelita said and Ulrich hugged her. Aelita tried to push him away but he held onto her, and she stopped and just cried on his shoulder, "Keep me away from her. Let's just go."

Aelita cried as Yumi looked out from her window overlooking the backyard. Part of her wanted to open the window to hear, but she could see Aelita crying, and that was enough. She closed the curtains and walked down stairs to see the door shut from Aelita and Ulrich leaving.

"What just happened?" William asked and Yumi walked to her window and saw Ulrich and Aelita walking down the street. She looked at everyone who waited for a response.

"They just needed to leave, nothing major," Yumi lied and everyone pretended to believe her. They all decided to not put a match over the powder keg.


	2. The Letter

They reached Aelita's building at nine-forty and walked in after Aelita opened it with her key. They stood in the lobby where the mailboxes were, Aelita trying to think of something to say as they stood in silence.

"I'm on the third floor," Aelita said and looked at the stairs to their back, "Want to talk tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?" Ulrich asked, "Can't we talk now?"

Aelita looked down nervously, then slowly looked back up and found his eyes again.

"I have an early morning," Aelita said and Ulrich shrugged.

"Doing what?"

Aelita sighed and saw him smiling, figuring he called her out.

"Look, we have a history. It's messy and I don't know..."

"It's messy because you made it messy!" Ulrich shouted at her, catching her off guard and making her flinch, "I'm...sorry. That's five years of pent up...sorry."

"I know it was me," Aelita said and stepped toward him, "I was the one who left."

"Why...that's my only question. I thought we loved each other, and one day I wake up in an empty bed. An empty bed and this," Ulrich said and pulled a sheet of paper out of his pocket and handed it to her. It was the note she left him five years ago. The one she wrote the day she left.

"You still have it," Aelita said and took the note from Ulrich's hand. She read it to herself and remembered how painful it was to leave.

"I read those words so many times I have them committed to memory. How the hell do we go from perfect...to...gone. How does that happen?"

"I didn't need college...I...I knew what I wanted to do. All of you, would have...slowed me down."

"Why not just tell me?" Ulrich asked, "Even if I didn't like it, I'd still support your choice."

* * *

Most nights of the week Ulrich and Aelita used her room, so the code word was becoming less needed but still helpful. Aelita told him about the scare a week later and he asked her to never withhold things like that from him. Months into the first semester of senior year Ulrich maintained his grades and Aelita felt herself becoming less focused on school. Not like it reflected on her grades in any significant way, but if it wasn't music or Ulrich she didn't care.

Finals came, the seasons changed, they started they're last semester. Ulrich didn't know Aelita hadn't sent out a single application yet. While Ulrich was studying she was on her laptop, creating a new mix or reading on the music scene. It was there she found out about various festivals, competitions and clubs. All of which she wanted to be a part of.

Two months away from graduation, Aelita didn't tell him she had already turned in the paperwork. She wanted to tell him, but last time she made rash, impulsive decisions her previous boyfriend was less than pleased. In reality, she was just too scared to face his answer, so decided to not tell him the questions. Aelita wanted to tell him she had tested out.

The day Aelita turned in the paperwork, they were in his room. All day. Aelita had mentioned doing this a few times, but now they were actually doing it. Literally lying in bed and having sex all day. Odd had a date and stayed with her so privacy wasn't an issue.

After they had lost count, Aelita rested her head on his chest, feeling it raising and falling rapidly, hearing his heart poundng in his chest.

"How many more do you got?" Aelita asked with a giggle and Ulrich laughed back while gasping.

"I was out two times ago," Ulrich said and Aelita kissed up his chest to his lips, placing her body fully on his and straddled him, "Whoa, be careful, I took it off."

"I thought you were out of ammo," Aelita said in a teasing voice and Ulrich shook his head and smiled.

"I might be," Ulrich and she kissed him again and went under the covers, kissing down his chest and kept going.

Every fantasy he told her he had, they did that night. Every fantasy she had, they did. If it was within reason and didn't involve a third person, it was done. They had the night of their lives. Aelita wanted it to be the best night they ever had. Because she was gone when he woke up.

Ulrich opened his eyes and saw a letter on his desk and read it. He immediately called her only for it to go straight to voice mail. He got dressed and ran to her room and knock. No response. He opened it, and saw she had left some of her clothes, but took almost everything else. She was gone, and her note left no indication.


	3. You're My Hero

**_A lot happened, and work takes priority. I got promoted to Sergeant and I graduated Air Assault school. Jumping out of helicopters is a lot of fun. Either way, here's the next to chapters._**

* * *

After Ulrich and Aelita talked at her stairwell, Ulrich revealed he didn't really plan it after finding her. Aelita at first started to tell him where some of hotels were, but then stopped and decided to let him in. They arrived on the third floor and walked down the hall to her apartment door.

Aelita opened the door and flipped the lights on. It was a two bedroom apartent with a small kitchen and medium living room. It was plenty spacious but the large couch and television stand took up a lot of the space. Ulrich stayed by the door looking around as Aelita walked into the living room and seemed to be cleaning up a little.

"I was going to clean tomorrow, didn't expect company tonight," Aelita said as she lifted up the couch enough to slide a few knick knacks underneath it.

"That's fine, my place is worse," Ulrich said as Aelita stood up and looked around and seemed satisfied the evidence was gone.

Aelita invited him into the living room where they sat on the couch, waiting for the other to say something first. They looked away from each other, and then awkwardly smiled, then away again. Finally Aelita broke the silence.

"How was college without your tutor?" Aelita asked and Ulrich chuckled.

"I did okay," Ulrich said and she smiled at him.

"I don't think I would have been able to focus in college."

* * *

Aelita's mind wandered on other, more worthwhile things as Mrs. Hertz pointed at the blackboard and asked if anyone knew the next step of the formula. Out of the corner of her eye, Aelita saw Jeremie's hand raise, and then noticed Mrs. Hertz ignore him for a few seconds, wanting to give someone else the chance to answer. After ten seconds she relented and Jeremie correctly answered. While Jeremie spoke, all Aelita heard was the rhythmatic tapping of an anxious foot one column to her right, three rows up.

The foot tapped perfectly every one second. Aelita would have been annoyed but the interval between taps was so perfect she just closed her eyes and lost herself in the percussion. Two columns to her left, one seat up, another student tapped their pencil.

The two sounds blended together as the girl sitting directly behind Aelita began her beauty routine by filing her nails. The grinding sound of file joined seemlessly. Aelita knew it needed something more, something improvised to fill in the voids of silence. She began to buzz and click her tongue to fill in the spaces.

What felt like a moment, was nearly a half hour. Mrs. Hertz might as well of been a mute. All Aelita could hear was her own soundtrack. The tapping of the foot was the loud, booming, echoing as the lighter, higher tapping of the pencil was like a cymbal, gently being tapped to add a sound that could be heard over everything without stealing the show. The nail file, was a turn table. While the foot and pencil had a consistant, predictable beat, the file was random, wild even. It added a style of unpredictability and surprise that made one listen for a change. It made one anxious to hear where it was going next.

Aelita's own voice added imperfection. Small, uneven, unbalanced buzzes and clicks to fill the void of silence between the sounds. It all blended chaotically together, yet in a melody that flowed without hesitation. It was a improvised act so perfectly conducted one would think her a maestro. Baton in hand, Aelita was leading an orchestra through deliberate, planned, prepared, and practiced sheet music.

In her mind, eyes closed, Aelita was a maestro. One wave of her baton the foot tapped faster. The pencil increased tempo. The file grinded louder and slower. Her voice distorting into something a little more her. It was a wonderful concert, until the beauty routine ended.

The filing stopped like a record being scratched, pulling Aelita out of her mind and back into the classroom. Her eyes opened, her ears suddenly hearing Mrs. Hertz again.

"Any questions you have can be asked after class," Mrs. Hertz said and then the beel rang.

Hopefully Jeremie took notes.

* * *

Ulrich's mind wandered onto other, more worthwhile things. Thankfully Yumi was too busy not noticing he wasn't listening. She talked about her parents fighting again, and how much of a brat her brother was, and how she did on her biology midterm. After listening to her talk for years, Ulrich had learned the ultimate phrase that was an answer to every question.

"As to be expected," Ulrich said when he noticed she had stopped talking long enough, which meant she wanted a response. He chuckled to himself when she started talking again.

Odd and Jeremie arrived and sat with them for breakfast. They all talked as they finished their food before someone finally checked the time.

"Fifteen till the bell," Odd said and stood up. Everyone followed suit and Ulrich realized his bag was lighter than it should have been.

"I'll meet you in class, my homework is in my book, which is on my desk," Ulrich said to Jeremie.

"Could you check on Aelita while you're at it?" Jeremie asked, realizing she wasn't at the table with them. Ulrich nodded and grabbed an apple from the food line as he walked passed.

Ulrich went to his room and grabbed his book, placing it into his bag, locking the door on the way out. He arrived at Aelita's door a minute later and knocked. There was no answer and any other person he would assume the room was vacant. This however was Aelita, so he pressed his ear to the door and listened. He heard the faint sound of music playing so turned the knob.

Aelita was laying face up on her bed, fully clothed and bag packed ready to go. On her ears were giant head phones that put her in her own little world of loud dubstep music. Ulrich saw her lips moving, lipsyncing to the lyrics of the remixed song, so knew she was awake. He could have done several thing to get her attention, and came to the conclusion pulling one of the ear muffs away from her ear and slapping it back to her head was the most effective.

Aelita jolted up and at looked at him laughing. She punched him in the stomach, yanked her headphones off and hit pause.

"What time is it?" Aelita asked and Ulrich informed her, "I missed breakfast again didn't I?" Ulrich nodded and tossed the apple into her lap.

"Thanks," Aelita said with a smile and grabbed her bag and left her room with him, locking the door behind her.

"Still need help in math?" Aelita asked and Ulrich shrugged, not sure how to answer.

"Maybe," Ulrich simply answered as they reached the stairs.

"I don't want to see you all angry when your dad sees your report card. Starting next week, the library, after school, an hour a day with me," Aelita said and Ulrich shook his head and smiled.

"I'm sure my girlfriend will love me spending time with another girl," Ulrich said sarcastically and she laughed as they reached the bottom of the stairs outside of the dorms. Ulrich was going to turn right, Aelita left.

"She'll get over it," Aelita said and faced Ulrich who turned to face her as well.

"One last thing," Ulrich said and Aelita waited for him to say something. Instead he grabbed her hand, lifted it to his face and took a bite out of her apple.

"Later," Ulrich said with a full mouth and walked away.

"Really!?" Aelita shouted at him as she cocked her arm back to throw it at the back of his head. After a moment she stopped, looked at the apple, and sighed before taking a bite over his teeth marks and walking to class.

* * *

Next week came, Aelita and Ulrich found a table in the library. Aelita first had to teach Ulrich how to even structure the formulas correctly. She used a few examples from the book and created a few equations of her own. Within a half hour Ulrich could structure the equation correctly. To be honest, the teacher never explained it this way to him with this much patience. Ulrich completed three equations on his own by the end of their hour.

"Why didn't Mrs. Hertz explain this way?" Ulrich asked as he leaned into his seat and looked at looked over at her.

"She did, just a little too fast," Aelita said and Ulrich scuffed at her.

"Are you calling me slow?" Ulrich asked and Aelita smiled and shook her head.

"No, I'm saying Mrs. Hertz's teaching method is very dry. You're a very kinetic person, I'm audio, so a dry, spoken method works just fine for me. You need to touch, feel, even it's only the pen to paper," Aelita said and Ulrich rolled his eyes and she knocked on the table.

"I'm serious Ulrich. Here's my homework assignment to you," Aelita started and Ulrich laughed.

"What?" Ulrich laughed and Aelita slapped his arm.

"You need to write down every equation, every formula, every written word and number multiple times," Aelita said and Ulrich rolled his eyes again.

"That sounds like detention where I write down I won't do something over and over again till I run out of chalk board," Ulrich said and Aelita giggled and shook her head.

"Just do it," Aelita said and Ulrich relented and said he would. They both noticed they were five minutes over time.

"I got a boyfriend to attend to," Aelita said then gathered her things and stood up.

"Me too, minus the boyfriend, it's...you know what I mean," Ulrich said and stood up as Aelita laughed and slid her chair under the table.

"Say hi to Yumi," Aelita said and walked out of the library as Ulrich closed his book and waved as she left. Ulrich gathered his things, dropped them off at his room and met up with Yumi in the rec room where they sat next to each other on one of the couches and watched Odd challange the entire school to ping pong.

"No one can defeat me!" Odd shouted in triumph, paddle in hand, hand raised into the sky as hs fifth challanger of the night walked away in shame.

"Why does Odd make ping pong addicting to watch?" Yumi asked and Ulrich shrugged.

"No idea, but only two people can defeat him," Ulrich said and Odd heard him.

"Who are these people you speak of?" Odd asked.

"Forrest Gump, and the guy who beat Forrest Gump," Ulrich said and Odd, thought about it for a moment, and nodded to agree.

"Hey, want to get out of here?" Yumi asked and Ulrich looked at her, and saw what she meant.

"Odd," Ulrich said to get his attention, "You're my hero." Odd looked at Yumi then back at him with a smile of understanding.

"No Ulrich, you're mine."

When you live with a roommate, you need code words. Little phrases or inside jokes that only you two know, so you can relay information to each other without anyone knowing. When Ulrich and Yumi would have sex, Ulrich would tell Odd he was his hero. To confirm the message was received, Odd would reply that Ulrich was his.

Half an hour later Yumi was resting her head on Ulrich's chest, still breathing deep with Ulrich's arm wrapped around her.

"I needed that," Yumi said as she leaned up and kissed him.

"Your family must really be pissing you off," Ulrich said and Yumi giggled and kissed his chest.

"You have no idea," Yumi said and reached for her clothes next to the bed and stood up when she found her panties and slid them on.

Ulrich found his boxers and pulled them up as his door knocked. Yumi looked at Ulrich who asked who it was.

"It's me, I took your homework on accident," Aelita's voice said from the other side of the door.

"Slide it under," Ulrich said and a moment later his homework slid into his room.

"Yumi, get some clothes on I want to talk a minute before you go home," Aelita said and Yumi laughed.

"Sure," Yumi said and finished getting dressed. Yumi left the room with Ulrich who saw Aelita shaking her head at them with a grin, "Oh shut up."

Aelita and Yumi walked down the hall and down the stairs to talk as Ulrich leaned against the frame of his door and checked his phone. Ulrich sent Odd the all clear and saw him walking down the hall a few minutes later. While Ulrich talked with Odd, Aelita was talking to Yumi.

"Why?" Yumi asked as Aelita shrugged and sat on her bed.

"I don't know, and I said I've been thinking about it, not that I will," Aelita said and Yumi sat next to her.

"You and Jeremie give me hope for the universe. How can you tell me you're thinking about breaking up with him?" Yumi asked, shocked and appalled at even the thought.

"Yumi, what is your passion? Something you truly love to do?" Aelita asked and Yum thought about it for a moment before she gave an answer.

"Fighting. Penkak Silat," Yumi answered.

"Okay, now imagine, your boyfriend says it's a waste of time," Aelita said and Yumi couldn't really imagine that, because her and Ulrich sparred often enough to call it foreplay.

"I really can't imagine Ulrich saying it's a waste of time," Yumi said and Aelita sighed and looked at her computer.

"I love music, for reasons I can't even fully explain. Next semester, I can take a music class, but I'd have to drop chemistry. It's fine, it's a college chem class anyway, so not like I wouldn't take it senior year. We just got into a huge fight over that," Aelita said and Yum sighed and thought about it.

"Keep the chem class," Yumi said and Aelita looked at her, actually surprised by her answer.

"What?" Aelita asked and Yumi nodded.

"Aelita, a college chem class is awesome for a college application," Yumi said and Aelita looked at her feet and sighed. Yumi agreed with Jeremie.

"I'll think about it," Aelita said and thanked Yumi for listening.


	4. Can I Kiss You

"What are you thinking about?" Aelita asked, since he had been quiet and just listening to her talk for roughly ten minutes.

"I came here, with a script in my head," Ulrich said and Aelita smiled.

"What you were going to say when you found me?" Aelta asked and he nodded.

"Just so when I left you knew how painful these last five years were to me. I was going to shout...at least more. It's scary how fast old habits come back, and I'm not mad anymore. All I want to do is kiss you."

"I remember that feeling."

* * *

Everyone noticed it except for them. Some were even making wagers. They hadn't noticed that they had been eating dinner together every night for three weeks. They hadn't noticed they walked to her door every night, and talked for nearly an hour before she stepped in and closed the door behind her. He didn't notice she opened the door when he left to watch him leave, she didn't know he didn't want to.

Ulrich's first physics test was a eighty nine, so he needed more help before the finals. He arrived at the library to see she had not arrived yet. When he reached into his pocket for his phone it went off, alerting him of a text.

'_Sorry, really want to finish this track, we can study in my room._'

Ulrich shrugged and pocketed his phone and walked to her room where he knocked, knew she left her headphones on so opened the door like he was already used to. The one time he casually swung it open, she was changing shirts and was topless with her breasts in full view. They both froze, before Ulrich slowly and with relative calm closed her door. Thirty seconds later it opened from the inside and she let him in.

"Did you see anything?" Aelita asked, flush with red in her cheeks.

"Yes, I'll pretend nothing happened if you do," Ulrich suggested and she nodded. While Ulrich did homework they talked as she edited the tracks and layered them, playing back and forth to find the spots that needed refinement.

At the end of the hour Ulrich packed up and asked if she wanted dinner.

"Want to listen for a moment?" Aelita asked and Ulrich smiled, walking over and placing the headphones on. He smiled as he listened, and Aelita remembered something about Jeremie from their relationship. He never wanted to listen to her music.

Aelita smiled at Ulrich who pulled the head phones to his neck.

"I think it's good, it feels like it needs to be...faster at around the one minute mark," Ulrich said and Aelita smiled wider. He actually, truly listened to it.

"I thought about a tempo increase with the strings, and a slight distortion of the bass in the same place...Jeremie never listened to my music," Aelita said and Ulrich gave a slight chuckle.

"He's missing out," Ulrich said and smiled at her.

Aelita felt herself wanting to do something, but stopped herself, turned and said, "Let's get dinner."

They sat across from each other in an almost empty cafeteria. It was Friday so most of the students were out and about. Ulrich talked about the last time he talked to Yumi and Aelita talked about the same with Jeremie.

"It wasn't as awkward as I thought it would be," Ulrich said and Aelita shrugged.

"Jeremie was awkward," Aelita said and Ulrich asked about that, "You first, I need a moment to put it to words."

Ulrich chuckled and took a bite, chewed and said, "We had breakfast a few days ago. Literally, the first time I spoke to her since the last time we slept together. I'm not exactly sure how she's doing."

"I've talked to her a few times, she's actually kind of scared of a new relationship," Aelita said and Ulrich thought about it, not exactly sure what to say.

"I was, at first..." Ulrich started, then had no idea what he was going to say next.

"And?" Aelita asked.

"I spent so long trying to get her...getting refused so many times till it finally happened. At first I didn't know what to do with myself. For a while that pursuit defined me, and then gone."

"I think you've recovered better than her, which actually surprised me," Aelita said and Ulrich shrugged.

"Have you put it to words yet?" Ulrich asked.

"Jeremie is so...indifferent about the whole thing. He'll always have a place in my life, that will never go away. It's just...I had higher expectations about the relationship.

"Think about it for a moment. He found me in a mystical world, in a tower and rescued me from an evil monster. You can't make that up. I was literally a princess in a tower," Aelita said and Ulrich laughed.

"And then...I...at first I thought he was just stoic. It took years after I got out for us to go out, and when we did. We finally went out...and...nothing. Talking to him felt like talking through a monitor again. If that's all I was getting, I might as well of never left Lyoko.

"Talking to Jeremie again, was awkward cause he was trying to convince me to get back together. It felt more like he was trying to convince himself he actually still wanted it. I think it's like when you save someone, you feel like you have an obligation to them. To Jeremie I'm more of an obligation. I'm not a damsel anymore, I don't need saving. You all gave me my life back, so I have a debt to all of you I'll never fully repay.

"Yumi and Jeremie weren't doing me favors by thinking of me more like a child who didn't know what she wanted. So thanks for treating me like my decisions mattered."

The two of them shared a look, and held it. Quietly, they both stopped eating and looked into each others eyes, both wanted to say something, and yet knew nothing needed to be said. WIth only their eyes to talk they returned their trays and he walked her back to her room. They still hadn't spoken when they arrived at her door.

For nearly a minute they just stared at eachother, until Ulrich decide to move toward her.

"Can I kiss you?" Ulrich asked, and that surprised her more than if he had just done it.

"Yeah," Aelita said with a smile after a moment and he did. He leaned in and gently kiss her, her hands slowly draping themselves over his shoulders while his hands wrapped around her waist and drew her in.

They slowly kissed for ten minutes in the hallway before they stopped at looked at each other. They both smiled and Aelita looked over her shoulder at her room.

"Want to come in?" Aelita asked and Ulrich sighed with a slight chuckled, knowing her intent.

"Not tonight, I want to wait a little for that," Ulrich said and Aelita made a disappointed look before she understood.

"Okay, breakfast tomorrow?" Aelita asked and Ulrich nodded, "Good night."

"Night," Ulrich said and kissed her again before walked to his room.


	5. Wrong Idea

_**I understand the confusion of trying to figure out the order of events, but that's kind of the point. I'll at least put Back At Kadic so you know it's a flashback.**_

* * *

Somehow the conversation had led to sex. Not them having it, but them talking about it. Their escapades in the last five years. They both wanted to lie. They both didn't.

"Three," Aelita said, looking down and away, before she looked up again and shrugged.

"I guess I'm the whore with four...no rhyme intended," Ulrich said and Aelita laughed and shook her head.

"You were a single man in your prime, I'm surprised it's that small," Aelita said and Ulrich chuckled, "How long did those last? Did I know them?"

"Two months, two days, year and half, and a year. You knew two of them," Ulrich said and Aelita got excited, "Want to guess before I tell you?"

"It's like you know me," Aelita said with a giggled and began to think, "Sissi?"

"Nope."

"Emily?" And Ulrich nodded, "Two months?"

"She was the year," Ulrich said and Aelita snapped her fingers, fake angry she got it wrong.

Aelita asked and received a series of head shakes in response.

"Milly...Tamiya...Naomi...Claire...Heidi Klinger?"

"It was Heidi."

"Heidi, how long can someone put up with Heidi for?" Aelita asked and smiled, "Two months?"

"Two days," Ulrich said and Aelita laughed out loud.

"What! Really?" Aelita asked and Ulrich nodded, "Who did you date for a year and a half?"

"She sat behind me sophomore year, Diana. Just didn't work out, leave it at that. Your turn."

"The three, right. Well, one night, one month, and one year," Aelita said and Ulrich asked for details.

"First was Sven, one month. Not going to tell you how that one ended, cause you'd hunt him down and kill him," Aelita said and Ulrich immediately demanded to know how it ended, "He hit me, just leave it at that.

"Then came Adam, one year. Then Richard, one night. We hooked up, and it just felt awkward the next morning. For both of us. He's also my manager, so there's that," Aelita said, with a shrug.

"Do you remember our first time?" Aelita asked and Ulrich nodded.

"I do. Sex or kiss?"

"Either or."

"Yes," Ulrich said and she smiled, "Which first kiss?"

"The one where I didn't run away in tears."

* * *

_**Back At Kadic**_

This sparring session had been going for roughly fifteen minutes. Ulrich or Yumi would take the other to the mat, they'd reset, and start over again. They both loved sparring, it was testing their progress and the act of throwing each others sweaty bodies around the mats, pinning each other down, was strangely erotic and typically resulted in sex.

Both Ulrich and Yumi, worn out, drenched in sweat head to toe, fell to the mat head to head, their feet extending in opposite directions. The both inhaled and exhaled deeply and looked at each other. Yumi tilted and kissed Ulrich, who kissed her back. Yumi rolled over and straddled him, kissing him deeply, taking his arms and pulling them over his head, pinning his wrists down as she pressed her breasts into his chest.

"Shower, meet in the room?" Yumi asked and Ulrich nodded. She quickly rolled off of him and Ulrich went men's shower, Yumi to the women's. They both got cleaned just to meet in Ulrich's room and get sweaty again. As he walked to the room he sent Odd a text.

_'Did you do your science homework?' _

_ 'Of course, I'm in the library.'_

The new code phrase was working great so far.

They arrived in his room and got to shirt off before a knock came.

"Are you kidding me?" Yumi whispered to Ulrich who shrugged and put his shirt back on. Yumi did the same and motioned for him to open the door and get rid of who ever it was.

"Hey," Aelita said when he opened the door, "What are you doing right now?"

"I'm a little busy," Ulrich said and Aelita saw Yumi's bag on the ground and felt embarrassed.

"Oh, sorry," Aelita said and took a step away, "I'll go see if William wants to hang out."

"Okay, see you later," Ulrich said and shut the door. When he turned around he saw Yumi giving him an expression he wasn't even sure what it meant, "What?"

"Why does Aelita think it's okay to just stop by whenever?" Yumi asked and Ulrich groaned, really not wanting to get into this fight.

"She's my friend, why wouldn't she think it's okay?" Ulrich asked and Yumi tried to see something wrong with that, but couldn't.

"She's single now, and the time you two have been spending together. I know its just tutoring, but I don't want her to get the wrong idea," Yumi said and Ulrich laughed and shook his head.

"She isn't getting the wrong idea," Ulrich said and Yumi didn't say anything immediately.

"I'm going to go home, that killed the mood," Yumi said and grabbed her bag, "I'm not worried about you. I know you know better. Depending on what you'd consider a relationship, this is pretty much the first time Aelita's been single since she got out of Lyoko."

"And?" Ulrich asked.

"Good night Ulrich, I'll call you when I get home."

* * *

"Sorry about yesterday," was the first thing Aelita said when she sat down for their tutoring session.

"It's fine," Ulrich said and pulled his math book out and opened to the page that was bookmarked with his homework in it. He actually finished most of it in class, so Aelita looked it over and saw one mistake and pointed it out, "Dammit."

"It's only one, you're really getting it now," Aelita said and handed it back to him, "I saw her leave almost immediately afterward, so I know I blue balled you."

"I said it was fine," Ulrich said, "Not like you've never been blue balled. Or whatever is the female equivalent."

"I haven't," Aelita said and Ulrich gave her a doubting look.

"You've never been interrupted during the throws of passion?" Ulrich asked and Aelita shook her head.

"I...never mind," Aelita said and Ulrich laughed.

"What were you going to say? Come on," Ulrich said and Aelita blushed and looked down.

"I've never been in the throws of passion," Aelita said and Ulrich was actually surprised.

"You and Jeremie never..." Ulrich started to say and Aelita shook her head, "Really?"

"Why, does he say we have?" Aelita asked and Ulrich shook his head.

"No, it's just, you two have been together for a moment," Ulrich said and Aelita shrugged.

"I tried," Aelita said and Ulrich laughed, "What?"

"That is so ass backwards."

"It's never been important to him. I know he's not gay, we've fooled around a little. But our relationship has always been kind of tame. I'm kind of jealous of you and Yumi."

"Why?" Ulrich asked and closed the book. For some reason, Yumi's words about Aelita getting the wrong idea came to mind.

"You want each other, in every way," Aelita said and looked at him, "I've never had that."

"Get back together with him," Ulrich suggested.

"I've tried, it's just...I don't want to be with someone who doesn't understand, or won't even try to. Seriously, why do I love music?" Aelita asked, that still bugging her. She had a feeling he was bluffing, but something told her he really did know.

"You're not ready," Ulrch said and Aelita punched his arm.

"Want to get some coffee, I don't feel like math right now," Aelita said and Ulrich wanted to say yes and again Yumi's words about Aelita getting the wrong idea came to mind.

"Why not," Ulrich said, in his mind, thinking Yumi was just seeing what wasn't there.

* * *

They got coffee, they talked and walked and found themselves sitting on the bench on campus. They laughed as they talked about everything, and how Aelita was looking for colleges with the best marketing programs. She was actually taking his advise.

"Why did you, encourage me instead of taking their side?" Aelita asked Ulrich who looked at her.

"Cause I quit playing sports cause my dad told me to. Said I needed to leave something that made me more happy to pile on more shit that makes me miserable. Wanted me to leave fighting too. Almost did, but I put my foot down. Yumi actually convinced me to drop sports."

"Why?"

"Same reasons she wanted you to take chemistry," Ulrich said and Aelita nodded and looked at her coffee.

"Still want to know why you love music?" Ulrich asked and Aelita looked at him, fairly excited while nodding in an unintentionally exaggerated manner.

"This may sound a little mean, but it's because it the only thing about you that isn't a lie," Ulrich said and Aelita wasn't sure what he meant by that.

"The name you use, your academic records, everything we made up. Everything about you we created, lied. Your entire existence since we got you out of Lyoko has been a lie," Ulrich said and Aelita looked at her feet.

It was a little mean Aelita had to admit. He was also right.

"Music, is the truth," Ulrich said, "We didn't lie about music. You truly love it, because it is you. It is the only thing in this world that is one hundred percent, you. It frees you, gives you purpose, because it allows you to express who you are without lying about it."

Aelita smiled and just looked at him. He smiled and looked back. Before either of them knew it, she kissed him. Not on the cheek. Not like a friend. She kissed him like a girl who had the wrong idea.

Ulrich flinched away from her, standing up off the bench, his coffee cup hitting the ground and spilling all over the sidewalk.

"Aelita," Ulrich said, not sure what to say. He wanted to shout at her, but stopped.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I did that," Aelita said, standing up, and not noticing she was taking small little baby steps away from him, "I'm sorry."

Aelita felt tears in her eyes and tried to bottle them but felt one slither down her cheek and drip off of her chin. Ulrich stood there, looking at her, not sure what to say or do. As her friend, he wanted to wrap her in a hug and make her feel better. As another girl's boyfriend, he didn't want to touch her.

"I'm sorry," Aelita said a third time and turned around and started to walk away. As much as Ulrich didn't want her to, he let her keep walking.

Ulrich found Yumi in the rec room and sat next to her and immediately kissed her. Yumi smiled, pleasantly surprised at how forward he was.

"Hey, you're early," Yumi said and Ulrich nodded, "What?"

"Nothing, we just have time today, and I want to use the time," Ulrich said and Yumi smiled.

"What do you have in mind?" Yumi asked.

Twenty minutes later she was covered in sweat and breathing deep, laying next to him giggling.

"We haven't had it that hot for a while," Yumi said and Ulrich kissed her forehead, "What got you in the mood?"

"I don't know, I just...needed it, you know?" Ulrich asked and she giggled again and nodded.

Yumi's phone rang and she dug through the clothes on the floor and found it. It was a text from Aelita. Yumi looked at her phone and looked at him, then at the phone.

Suddenly she was pissed off and putting on her clothes as fast as possible.

"I told you, god dammit I told you what Aelita was seeing," Yumi said and tossed her phone at him.

_"I kissed Ulrich, I'm so sorry. He didn't kiss back, he freaked out and I ran away. Yell at me not him. I'm so sorry.'_

"Why are you leaving?" Ulrich asked.

"Because I told you, and you didn't listen to me," Yumi said, "If I kiss you right now, all I taste is her."

"That's going a bit far," Ulrich said and stood up, trying to out dress Yumi before she ran out the door.

"I just need a minute, before I kill one of you two," Yumi said and found her bra, and strapped it on and put her shirt on over it.

"You were right, I didn't see it," Ulrich said and Yumi slowed down.

"It's...tell me where you think the signals might have been mixed."

"You and Jeremie have been telling her to take the chemistry class, I told her to make up her own mind," Ulrich said and Yumi shook her head.

"It was you...you're the reason she broke up with Jeremie," Yumi said, confusing Ulrich, "You at the very least gave her the final push. You supported everything she wanted, no wonder she got the idea into her head."

"I'm sorry, if I want to help my friend. I didn't tell her to not take chemistry. I told her that her opinion was really the only one that mattered," Ulrich said and Yumi sat down on Odd's bed to put her shoes back on.

"No offense Ulrich, you're the last person she should be taking academic advice from," Yumi said.

"You're number one then, right?" Ulrich asked, "I stopped playing sports because of you."

"So what?"

"I was just going to sign up for the Sunday tutoring sessions, but you didn't want me to. You wanted Sunday to be our day," Ulrich said and Yumi groaned.

"So it finally comes out. You know what, take your Sunday," Yumi said and loudly left his room with a door slam. Ulrich kicked his bag across the room and sat on his bed. Breathing deep, seething, he grabbed his phone and sent Yumi a text. Her phone went off next to his leg and he grabbed it.

_"I've never asked you to let go of anything."_

Ulrich sighed and tossed her phone across the room at Odd's pillow. Standing up he grabbed her phone and walked out of his room to give it back to her. When Ulrich rounded the corner to the stairs he almost collided with Aelita.

"Yumi almost tore my head off by only staring at me. I'd take it she's heard," Aelita said and Ulrich walked passed her, "I'm sorry."

"Not now," Ulrich said and jogged to his girlfriend who was at the gate, "Yumi."

"Not now Ulrich, I just need a minute," Yumi said and saw her phone in his hand, "Thanks," she said in a tone that meant it, but she was still angry.

Yumi looked at the text and looked back at him.

"Ulrich, are you happy?" Yumi asked and Ulrich nodded, "Are you really?"

"I am," Ulrich said, more like a reflex than a feeling.

"Because, I'm not sure if I am," Yumi said and Ulrich had no idea how to respond.

"Why not?" Ulrich finally said.

"You don't listen. I know what 'as to be expected' means. I've been feeling this way for awhile. I've been trying to have more sex because that's the only way I feel connected anymore. I think I was right the whole time," Yumi said and Ulrich just blankly stared at her.

"Right about what?" Ulrich asked.

"We're better off as friends," Yumi said and looked down, "I want to break up."

"Yumi no. Can we just talk?" Ulrich asked.

"Ulrich, to be honest, nothing in this relationship has really ever felt natural. It's always been kind of forced. We had fun, a lot of fun," Yumi said with some red in her cheeks, "But I don't think this was really ever meant to be."

Ulrich slowly inhaled and exhaled, thinking of something to say. Yumi smiled and kissed him one last time before she walked out of the gate and left him standing there alone.


	6. Sic Transit Gloria

Aelita and Ulrich really needed that. They smiled at each other as they put their clothes back on and weren't really sure who had started it. Something told both of them, that they both did.

"That was...spontaneous," Aelita said still breathing deep with a grin.

"Yeah, just like five years ago."

"Please," Aelita said and kissed him, "There was nothing spontaneous about our first time."

* * *

_**Back At Kadic**_

They both noticed their relationship didn't change that much. They still talked to each other the same, only they occasionally ending their conversations by kissing each other. Studying was interrupted constantly, but he still managed to get a ninety-three on his physics midterm. They celebrated that night with dinner filled with laughter and a night filled with awkward silence.

Nearly a month into their relationship, they still had not consummated it much to Aelita's annoyance. To her it was something she wanted over and done with. To Ulrich it was something that permanently changes the relationship for better or worse.

"Better or worse, huh?" Aelita said as she laid next to him on his bed after he explained his reluctance.

"I'm happy with it now, I don't see why we need to rush it," Ulrich said and Aelita groaned and lightly punched him in the chest.

"It's been a month," Aelita said and Ulrich shrugged, "Do you think it'll be worse?"

"It's not that, it's...I don't know. Yumi and I dated well passed our expiration date because of sex," Ulrich sad and Aelita sat up.

"So...we have an expiration date?" Aelita asked and Ulrich groaned and put his hands over his face. He had a woman practically begging him and he still found a way to turn her off.

"It will change the dynamic of our relationship, and I don't know how," Ulrich said and Aelita looked at him and smiled.

"For better," Aelita said, then leaned down and kiss him, "I know it's scary. I'd rather us find out than not take that chance."

Ulrich smiled back at her and grabbed his phone. He sent Odd the code word. Odd sent back the reply. He put his phone down and looked at her with a smile. They began to kiss deeply and Aelita noticed almost immediately he began to undress her.

Aelita didn't want to admit it, and probably never would, but Ulrich having experience with another woman somehow made this better. She knew she couldn't know the difference if this was both their first time, but him knowing what he was doing made it feel less like the blind leading the blind. Even though Ulrich felt like they were rushing to this point of their relationship, he didn't rush this point of their relationship.

Ulrich was slow, and deliberate with every action. Every part of her body his hands glided over, everywhere he kissed. Everything he did made her softly sigh or quietly moan. Soon they were a tangled mess of limbs, and a symphony of suppressed noise.

* * *

_**Aelita's Apartment**_

Aelita looked at her phone again as Ulrich brought them drinks. Letting out a deep sigh, she closed her phone and looked at him as he sat down next to her, placing her drink on he coffee table. She took a sip from her cup and look away for a moment, catching Ulrich's attention.

"What's wrong?" Ulrich asked and Aelita only laughed, looking up at him as she did.

"It just occurs to me, I fought so hard to get you," Aelita said and Ulrich couldn't help but smile a little.

"I stood up, to my best friend. Now I doubt she'd even look at me," Aelita said and Ulrich shook his head.

"She was never mad at you. Herself maybe, but never you," Ulrich said, Aelita placing her cup on the table then leaning back into the couch. They looked at each other for a full minute before Aelita smiled and grabbed his hand.

"I fought that hard, and I left you, just like that," Aelita said, snapping her fingers with her other hand, "Who does that?"

"I don't know," Ulrich said and Aelita squeezed his hand, thanking him for at least humoring the idea she may have had a better reason.

* * *

_**Back At Kadic  
**_

The end of the semester and finals came two months later. Ulrich had maintained the progress Aelita gained and finished math with a ninty six. Jeremie, Odd, and William went to celebrate the finals while Yumi, Ulrich, and Aelita made up excuses. Jeremie knew Aelita was avoiding Yumi, Yumi was avoiding Ulrich, and Ulrich was avoiding them both.

Odd was really the only one who had seen Ulrich since he was his roommate, but the two didn't really talk beyond Ulrich saying he didn't want to talk about it. Two months since the breakup left him confused, because Yumi was still naked in his room after class.

Yumi was the one who had initiated it a week after the break up. Every time she swore it was the last time. After two weeks of nearly daily last times, she suggested a friends with benefits relationship. Ulrich wasn't sure if that was a good idea, and never really said yes. He never said no either.

Aelita started her music class and loved it. Before she really didn't know how to actually read sheet music properly. She didn't know how to structure a chord, how to layer chords on top of each other. This was the most invested in school she had ever been, and when she looked across the classroom at Ulrich during Biology, he looked miserable.

Yumi rolled off of Ulrich, gasped for air while laughing. They were under his blankets, her legs on his, her hands on her chest, feeling it rise and fall as he breathed. What they used to do after this was talk, now she got dressed, said 'later' and left. When she left Ulrich would lay in his bed and look at his ceiling.

Ulrich rolled over, got dressed and left to go get dinner that he ate with William and Odd. The two talked around him until William noticed he wasn't talking.

"Ulrich, you okay?" William asked and Ulrich shrugged and took a bite of his food, "That's a no."

"It's nothing, I don't want to talk about it," Ulrich said and Odd put his fork on the table.

"Stop, it's been months of I don't want to talk about it," Odd said and Ulrich looked at him blankly and sighed, "Are you and Yumi actually not together, cause you two are making it difficult to tell the difference."

"We aren't together," Ulrich said and Odd crossed his arms and looked at William.

"I don't want to get in the middle of this," William said and stood up, "It's hard for me to sound objective anyway."

"I need back up," Odd said and William said 'later' and left them, "Want my opinion on this matter?"

"Not really."

"You two need to stop. She seems fine with the arrangement, you don't," Odd said and Ulrich took a sip of his drink and placed his cup on his tray and stood up.

"I'm fine with the arrangement. Sex and no commitment, it's every guys dream," Ulrich said and waited for his response.

"I know you Ulrich, and this isn't you," Odd said and Ulrich picked up his tray and walked away.

* * *

Aelita had her entire speech prepared and found her way to the door. Every word she had memorized. She knew the way she was going to say it, when her voice would raise, what she would say in the inevitable responses. She was ready to do it.

Aelita raised her hand to the door and knocked. She waited, going through her speech, the highs and lows of the words she was going to speak. The door opened and she forgot everything.

"Hey Aelita," Yumi said and Aelita's stuttered, "You okay?"

"You need to stop," Aelita finally said and Yumi raised her eyebrows, not sure what she meant.

"Am I missing something?"

"Stop sleeping with Ulrich," Aelita said and Yumi was dumb founded and had no idea what to say. Which was awkward as they both stood there, unable to speak.

"What?" Yumi asked and Aelita stuttered again, collected herself and started over.

"What you two are doing is destroying him. He's miserable, and if you ever really actually cared about him, you'd stop and let him move on," Aelita said and turned around and walked down her porch.

"Is it really bothering him?" Yumi asked and Aelita turned around and nodded.

"Was it my fault?" Aelita asked and Yumi sighed and shook her head, taking a step forward and sitting on her porch. Aelita stepped back up and sat next to her. They looked at each other and gave weak smiles before looking at their own feet.

"He wore me down," Yumi said and Aelita looked at her, "He kept pushing, and he pushed harder when I pushed back, until I finally said yes. I was right though, we're better as friends, but we've shared things with each other that I've never shared with anyone. The idea of sharing that with someone else, being that vulnerable to another person is scary."

"Is that why you couldn't stop when you broke up?" Aelita asked and Yumi nodded.

"Every part of me, wanted it to work. I spent more time convincing myself I loved him, than actually just loving him. That's not fair, to me, or him, and I knew he never would do it you know. End it. Is it bad if I say it was easier than I thought it would be? Saying it?" Yumi asked and Aelita didn't answer.

"Sic transit gloria mundi," Aelita said and stood up and walked off the porch, "It means 'Thus passes the glory of the world,'" Aelita said before Yumi asked.

"What does that mean?" Yumi asked anyway, wondering what the translation meant.

"Nothing lasts forever," Aelita said and continued walking.

* * *

Aelita didn't expect Yumi to actually listen, but she did. They stopped what they were doing and Ulrich didn't exactly return to normal, however he seemed at the very least less confused. He seemed less lonely even though he was getting less company. And he started going to tutor sessions again. This time for physics.

Ulrich was adding mass to an equation of weight deferential to a pulley and lever system as Aelita leaned in her chair with her giant ear muffs on. When he finished he tapped Aelita's knee and she looked at his work without taking off the head phones. She pointed to one part of the equation and motioned an X for incorrect over it and he looked at it and was flustered.

"Could you teach while not listening to music?" Ulrich asked, wondering why he did since she obviously couldn't hear him. Aelita saw his lips moving so took them off and he repeated the question. She placed the headphones on his ears and he listened to it for a moment and looked up at her.

"I like this," Ulrich said and she smiled, and took them back, "Did you make that?"

"I did," Aelita said and Ulrich gave a small chuckle and smiled back.

"Sorry that I became a moody bitch," Ulrich said and she shook her head.

"Don't worry about it," Aelita said and pushed stop on her music and placed it on the table, "You have my undivided attention."

Ulrich asked why he was wrong and Aelita explained that he didn't adjust the mass when it became distributed. He adjusted accordingly and when their hour was up they got dinner together with William. After they ate he walked her to her room and she leaned against her door and smiled.

"About what you said, about everything but music being a lie," Aelita said and Ulrich shook his head.

"I'm sorry," Ulrich said and she smiled and shook her head.

"It's not that, you're right. It's just that...sometimes I don't feel like I'm a real person. I know I am, I was born, I have parents...had...but...I..."Aelita said and found herself stuttering again.

"Just say it...you don't have to bottle it up...I do so I guess I'm not the best person to say that."

"That might be why you're the best person to say that," Aelita said, and strangely he understood her point, "Sometimes I feel like I came out of lyoko, incomplete. It's not my memory or anything like that. It's more like a piece of my heart or soul is still floating in the abyss. Is it normal to feel that way?"

"Yeah, it is. You're not any different from anyone else. You're better than most," Ulrich said and Aelita smiled and looked at the floor.

"Do you ever feel that way?" Aelita asked and Ulrich nodded.

"All the time," Ulrich answered and Aelita looked up at him.

"How do you deal with it?" Aelita asked.

"When I figure it out, I'l tell you," Ulrich said and gave a slight smiled that she returned, "Good night."

"Night," Aelita said and stepped into her room and closed her door by leaning her back into it. Aelita sat on he bed and pulled her head phones out of her bag and placed them on her ears.

"Amantes sunt amentes," Aelita said to herself as she let the music take her somewhere else.


	7. Cup of Coffee

They had finished a pot of coffee by twelve thirty in the morning. It was relaxing to sit and talk about what they had been up to for five years while sipping their drinks. It felt familiar, like old times. All of the problems Aelita had seemed to be fixed by a cup of coffee and his company. It wasn't that he spoke and gave good advice. The fact he had always been relatively quiet is what made the difference.

Jeremie and Yumi always spoke. They advised her, guided her, and most annoyingly it seemed like they lectured. Ulrich gave her room to speak, and she spoke almost the whole time. It wasn't because he heard her. It was because he listened. He asked her how these things made her feel, so she could talk more. He asked her what she wanted to do, just to let her hear herself say it without the filter of condescension that was Jeremie and Yumi.

Aelita sipped her coffee and looked at him across her couch. They hadn't spoken in five years. Sure she missed the sex, she missed his kiss, his touch to her body. She missed all that. One cup of coffee made her fell like she could tell him anything again, and she missed that more than anything.

* * *

_**Back At Kadic**_

It appeared Ulrich was making progress with Aelita as his tutor because he got ninty two percent on a practice quiz. The past two weeks had been going good for Ulrich's grades, but not for Aelita's relationship with Jeremie. Yumi was the only one who knew she was thinking about breaking it off. The only thing that was preventing it, was Yumi agreeing with Jeremie.

"How are things going with Jeremie?" Ulrich asked and she answered things were fine, and he knew she was lying. He wasn't sure how he knew, but he knew.

"What's really going on?" Ulrich asked and Aelita started to lie again, and stopped.

"He wants me to do something that I really don't want to do let's just put it that way," Aelita answered, which only made more questions come to Ulrich's mind, "It's about school, get your mind out of the gutter."

"What about school?" Ulrich asked and Aelita sighed and figured one more opinion couldn't hurt.

"I want to drop chemistry to take a music class next semester," Aelita said and Ulrich looked at her, not sure what to say.

"That's it?" Ulrich asked and Aelita nodded, "You don't need his permission."

"I know but, he's my boyfriend so his opinion matters," Aelita said and looked at the time. They were over time again.

"So does yours," Ulrich answered and Aelita paused, letting that one sink in for a moment, "He's your boyfriend, so in the end, whether or not he likes it, he will have to accept your decision."

"Thanks Ulrich," Aelita said and hugged him before she grabbed her bag and said, "You're my hero."

Aelita left the library to go find Jeremie as Ulrich stood there, and sighed before he called Odd.

"Odd, we need a new code word."

* * *

Knocking came loudly on Ulrich's door as Yumi and him stopped at looked at the door. They had barely gotten started before someone began pounding on the door.

"Yumi, need to talk, right now!" Aelita's voice came crying through the door.

"Can this wait?" Yumi asked and Aelita didn't answer, "Aelita?"

"That thing I said I was thinking about doing, I did it," Aelita said and Yumi got off of Ulrich and started to get dressed.

"What the hell is going on?" Ulrich asked and Yumi said she'd fill him in later. Yumi grabbed the door knob, and looked back.

"Sorry, this is an emergency," Yumi said and left Ulrich alone.

Yumi followed Aelita to her room and the moment the door closed she looked at Aelita and shouted, "What the fuck Aelita!?"

"I made up my mind, I'm dropping the chem class. He didn't like it, didn't want to hear about it, so I ended it," Aelita said and Yumi stopped herself from shouting again and gathered herself.

"Aelita, it's just a music class," Yumi scolded and Aelita held her voice back.

"It's just a chem class, that I can take senior year," Aelita shot back.

"Your grades from the class won't be on your applications unless you take it next semester," Yumi said and Aelita groaned.

"You know what, I don't care," Aelita said and Yumi sighed and wanted to say something, "Don't start, I do not care about chemistry, or my applications. If a college doesn't accept me because I didn't take an irrelevant course then..." Aelita started to say, but realized she really couldn't finish the statement without swearing, so decided she actually would for a change, "then it can go fuck itself!"

"You sound like a child," Yumi said and Aelita shrugged.

"Maybe I do, I don't care. Jeremie is my boyfriend, not my father. You're my best friend, not my mother," Aelita said and Yumi shook her head.

"Was your boyfriend, you just broke up with him," Yumi said and Aelita realized she did. The fact she broke up with her boyfriend, just dawned on her.

"It doen't matter if he likes it, he has to accept my decision," Aelita said and Yumi sighed and exited the room before she got loud again.

"Aelita, stop acting like a brat," Yumi said and Aelita slammed her door shut.

Aelita slammed her face into her pillow and screamed as she punched it. Sitting up she got control of herself and took deep breathe to calm down. Her boyfriend and her best friend were against her. They both said it was for her own good, but how could someone know someone else's own good if they didn't even understand them?

* * *

Ulrich worked on equations as Aelita quietly instructed him, though he was pretty close to not needing it anymore. Not until the new coursework came. Ulrich noticed she was quiet. Every word she spoke was direct instruction, there was no small talk between them.

"What's up?" Ulrich asked and Aelita looked at him and looked at her lap.

"I broke up with Jeremie," Aelita said and Ulrich leaned into his seat and placed his pencil down. He was done studying anyway.

"I know, we have the same friends after all," Ulrich said and Aelita looked at him, and shrugged.

"Do you have anything to say about it?" Aelita asked and Ulrich shook his head.

"I don't, cause I'm not educated enough on the situation," Ulrich said, in a round about way of asking for details. Aelita sighed and looked around, checking to see if anyone else could hear. Ulrich noticed what she was doing and stood up.

"Come on," Ulrich said and grabbed his stuff.

"What?" Aelita asked, and yet stood up and grabbed her things as well.

"Let's get some coffee," Ulrich said and Aelita stopped and looked at him with a slight smile.

"Won't your girlfriend mind?" Aelita asked and Ulrich just smiled.

"I'm sure she'd be fine," Ulrich said and they dropped off their bags and walked off campus to a cafe the group frequented. They sat across from each other with their drinks and realized they weren't any more alone since roughly ten people from campus were there so went for a walk with their drinks in hand.

"So what happened?" Ulrich asked and Aelita sighed into her drink and took a sip.

"I told him I was taking the music class. He freaked out, said it was stupid and a waste of time. That I was being childish and irresponsible," Aelita said and looked at him.

"It is a killer thing to have on an application though," Ulrich said and Aelita smiled, figuring out he had been told about that part.

"Is a college not going to accept me because I didn't take that class?" Aelita asked.

"Let's say its down to you and someone else. Both of you have perfect applications, and the other one has a college chemistry class they took junior year. Who's getting the slot?" Ulrich asked.

"I know, it's just...I don't care," Aelita said and Ulrich smiled at her, "Is that bad?"

"No, cause you don't care about chemistry. You care about music, honestly you should get a degree in marketing or advertisement," Ulrich said and Aelita took a sip and tried to think of why he said that.

"Why?" Aelita asked.

"Do you want to be a music teacher, cause that's all you can do with a music degree," Ulrich said and Aelta laughed.

"I guess that's kind of true," Aelita said and figured out why marketing or advertisement, "Music is a still a product, got to get it out there somehow."

"Exactly," Ulrich said and Aelita stopped and took a sip, "What?"

"Nothing, just...thanks for listening without yelling at me," Aelita said and Ulrich shrugged, "They don't understand why I love music. I really don't understand either."

"I do," Ulrich said and Aelita looked at him curiously.

"You understand something about me, that I don't?" Aelita asked and Ulrich nodded, "What is it?"

"Not telling," Ulrich said and started walking.

"Hey, now I really want to know," Aelita said and walked after him.


	8. Hannah

Old habits crept in quickly, resulting in Aelita opening her eyes and seeing Ulrich in the bed next to her. She smiled to herself and noticed the sun was out, bleeding in from the closed blinds. Aelita had the sudden feeling she was late for something, and confirmed it with her clock on the night stand.

"Shit!" Aelita shouted and jumped up, fully awake. It was 10:38 and she needed to be somewhere in twenty minutes.

Ulrich sat up and saw Aelita leave the bed naked and putting on the first things she could find. Opening her drawers she slid on a pair of panties, then a bra as she chose shorts and a button up blouse.

"What's up?" Ulrich asked as Aelita sat on the edge of her bed and put socks on, "Aelita."

"I'm late, I need to be somewhere at eleven," Aelita said, sliding a sock on her right foot then her left, "I need you to go."

"Go, can't I go with?" Ulrich asked as Aelita reached her bedroom door and paused.

"Ulrich, last night, was great," Aelita said and walked into the room and sat next to him, "What do you think happens next?"

Ulrich tried to speak, but found he had nothing to say. He had only found her for answers, not to immediately fall back in love with her after one night of conversation. It was almost like the last five years never happened.

"I don't know. I got job interviews next month, all in Berlin. You have gigs here I imagine. I can say I don't want this to be a fling," Ulrich said and Aelita smiled.

"I don't either, but there are some things about me now that I haven't told you," Aelita said and Ulrich chuckled.

"I'm sure I haven't told you everything yet either. We have time, if we're willing to take it," Ulrich said, making Aelita stand up and walk back to her door.

"Okay then, but before you truly decide on where this is going, you need to get dressed. I'm already late," Aelita said and left the room.

* * *

Aelita locked her apartment as they exited and together they walked down the stairs and out the main door. Taking a left they walked down the street for several blocks, before the clock struck eleven and Aelita got a phone call.

"Hey, I'm right around the corner," Aelita said and Ulrich watched her listen, "Yeah, see you soon."

"Who's that?" Ulrich asked, curious on who they were meeting.

"Richard," Aelita said and Ulrich remembered from last night.

"Manager guy?" Ulrich asked, receiving a nod in reply.

Together they rounded a corner and at the next corner fifty feet away was a cafe and bakery. A half dozen tables were placed outside and sitting in one of them was a man who stood up and waved when he saw Aelita who waved back. A moment later he picked up a little girl and walked to meet them halfway.

Aelita grabbed the little girl and kissed her cheeks, before turning to Ulrich and back to Richard.

"Richard this is Ulrich," Aelita said, a tone in her voice indicating she had mentioned him before.

"Pleasure," they both said, and shook hands as Ulrich stood there rather confused.

"And this is Hannah, our daughter," Aelita said and Ulrich froze, but calmed a moment later when he noted her age and saw it couldn't be his. Hannah was at most two, with brown hair like Richard that was already reaching her shoulders.

"Hey Hannah," Ulrich said and held out his hand. Hannah's tiny little hand grabbed his finger and Ulrich chuckled.

"Sorry, rough morning," Aelita sand Richard assured her it was fine, "So, coffee and the new contract?"

"Yeah, I printed it off, we have a few details to hammer out," Richard answered, the group returning to his table. When the waitress came they ordered while Richard pulled out the new contract and read over it paragraph by paragraph with Aelita.

"We really are better off at the Ozone," Richard said and Aelita took a sip when it arrived, and decided she wanted a pastry so ordered that as well.

"Can you get a percentage based on head count?" Aelita asked and Richard shrugged.

"Maybe, but this is going to be that trip to Stockholm where they try stiffing us again," Richard answered, Aelita groaning just at the memory.

"That was a nightmare, didn't help I was five months pregnant when it happened," Aelita said and Richard chuckled.

"You did look cute on that stage with the belly," Richard said and Aelita laughed.

Ulrich quietly sat as they did business, as Hannah just stared at him. Maybe because he was a new person who was with her mom made her curious.

"Do you like fairies?" Hannah asked and Urich laughed. It was her voice more than anything. Aelita turned and smiled, before looking back at Richard.

"Ozone is a lower number, but it's a bigger venue. If you can get a head count percentage, we'll jump. Otherwise, I'm staying where we are. I want monthly contract renewal, not a six month block," Aelita said and Richard nodded.

"Sounds fine, but Ozone will not go for it," Richard said and Aelita smiled, "Other news, Freewave Records wants you to record with a pop singer."

"You know how I feel about that," Aelita said and Richard leaned down and playfully banged his head on the table.

"It's money Aelita, and at the first sign of a Palmer repeat I will pull the plug?"

"How much?" Aelita asked and Richard pulled out his phone and read the first offer.

"Fifty sign on, five a month while in studio. Also five percent tour gross, not net, gross. They also said they're flexible on hard copy and digital download percentages," Richard read off and Aelita leaned into her chair.

"Before I say no, who is it?" Aelita said and Richard pocket his phone and groaned, knowing her answer in advance, "That bad.?"

"Alexia Jonston," Richard answered and Aelita shook her head.

"Why are they asking me? Seriously, what in my portfolio makes them assume I'm compatible with bubble gum, tween girl, twerking pop music?

"I literally have no idea what you just said, but I'll take that as a no," Richard said and Ulrich laughed. Aelita and Richard turned to see Hannah was rapid fire bombarding Ulrich with questions and he was laughed so hard it hurt. Everything she said was accidentally funny.

"Having fun over there?" Aelita asked and Hannah turned and gave her an exaggerated nod, "Whatcha talking about?"

"Fairies," Hannah said, Aelita looking at Ulrich who was recovering now that the cuteness wasn't aimed at him anymore.

"Fairies?" Aelita asked and leaned over to kiss her head, "Like mister puck?"

"Mister puck is a fairy who lives in the woods," Hannah said to Ulrich who almost died again. He knew what she was saying even if it sounded like. "Mewa Puck ish a fairwee who lifs in da wods."

"Wait, mister puck. Is he, this big?" Ulrich asked, estimating the size with her hands, "Pointy eats with a long sleeves?"

"You know Mister Puck?"

"Sleep on the Jonston deal. It's easy money..." Richard said before Aelita jumped in.

"No, it's long hours in a studio with a spoiled brat with an IQ less than her shoe size. Then an international tour where I don't see my little girl for months. Excuse me, if I'm not on board immediately. I'm not going to drag her along on a tour. I've done them before, and the money is never good enough."

Richard crossed his arms and leaned into his seat, and begrudgingly agreed to reply with a no. Aelita thanked him and turned to Hannah who was still torturing Ulrich who was a good sport.

"I need to go to the bathroom," Aelita said and left the table, leaving Ulrich alone with Richard and Hannah.

"So, are you the Ulrich she's mentioned?" Richard asked and Ulrich smiled.

"Depends, how many Ulrich's does she know?"

"Just the ex boyfriend she left and has felt guilty about for five years," Richard said and Ulrich nodded.

"I guess that's me," Ulrich said and the two sat quietly looking away and toward each other.

"So, how's business?" Ulrich said, just so they didn't sit silently.

"It's fine, Aelita is and always has been the biggest pain I manage," Richard said and Ulrich smiled.

"How'd you guys meet?" Ulrich asked.

"I used to be the assistant of the manger for the Subdigitals. Aelita knew the band from a contest when she was in school...you probably know that story better than I do. Basically what happened, Sophie, my old boss, didn't want to represent her. Aelita is an incredible DeeJay, however she's also a colossal pain to manage. Artistic integrity is a nightmare, believe me. The fact we do so well in spite of it is amazing. Aelita has thrown money away so many times."

"I see her point on this one," Ulrich said, Richard nodding.

"I do to, the last tour we did was a nightmare. Aelita was the mixer for Jeanette Palmer during her tour a few years ago. Jeanette, behind all the smiles and cute interviews, is a terrible person. She ran Aelita ragged for seven months. I'm talking twenty hour days in rehearsal, stage, and studio. It was a nine month deal, but Aelita couldn't do it anymore. We broke contract and left, leaving a sizable amount of money behind too."

"That must have sucked," Ulrich said, Richard nodding.

"It did, she wanted to keep going, but I called it. She wasn't sleeping or eating, and at some point I have to stop being her manager.." Richard started.

"And start being her boyfriend," Ulrich said, understanding his point.

"Aelita and I have never dated," Richard said, surprising Ulrich who looked at Hannah then back at him, "I get the confusion."

"What happened? Unless I'm wrong about where babies come from."

"I've never thought of Aelita in any romantic way. Maybe in the beginning, but after getting to know her, I saw friendship more desirable. After that tour, we were both so relieved it was over. We were happy to pass up over a hundred thousand dollars. Sometimes it clicks, and sometimes you misread things. We both did, we both misread the situation which confirmed we were friends. It was like waking up in the same bed as your sister.

"Like adults, we pretended it never happened. Until she told me she was pregnant," Richard said with a shrug, "The only difference is now we're friends who have a daughter. We share custody, she gets plenty of us at the same time, and we still get our work done.

"If I may ask, why now?" Richard asked.

"Why what?"

"Why after five years did you contact her again?" Richard asked and Ulrich smiled.

"It took me five years to find her," Ulrich said and showed him the video of her, "I asked around, and found the club she was playing."

"Put that video away, I look terrible," Aelita said and leaned over Hannah and kissed her, "Talk to the Ozone, try to get that deal, if not, I'll stay for now. Jonston, is not happening," Aelita said and picked Hannah up.

"I'll make the calls, Ulrich nice meeting you," Richard said and shook his hand again, "I'll see you soon, bye sweetie, love you."

Richard kissed Hannah and walked away leaving Ulrich and Aelita to walk the opposite direction. At first Ulrich thought she was going to the apartment till they took a few turns he didn't remember and finally arrived at a restraunt, but they headed up the stairs next to it. Ulrich read the sign and saw 'Electric Magic Recording Studio'.

Aelita said hello to everyone inside, introducing Ulrich to a few before they moved into a recording room the Aelita plugged her laptop in and worked on a few things she had in her head. Hannah sat on her lap and tried to press buttons, slide levers and twist knobs. Aelita would giggle and only stop her after it distorted for a few seconds.

"No recording studio at home?" Ulrich asked and Aelita shook her head.

"I pass up too many deals to afford one," Aelita said with a grin.

Ulrich watched her flawlessly record and mommy at the same time. Then something occurred to him. She spent more time as mommy. More attention was on Hannah than on the music, which is something he had never seen her do. Even he came second to music. It made him happy to see where her priorities were.

After she was done, they went home where Aelita made dinner, gave her a bath, and tucked her in. Ulrich remembered something and checked under the couch and saw Aelita had hid Hannah's toys underneath it last night.

When she was done being mommy, she sat on the couch next to him and smiled.

"This is me now," Aelita said and Ulrich held up the doll he found under the couch, "I didn't want you to run away. Not yet. Then today I realized, if you were going to I'd rather you do it now."

"Why would I run?" Ulrich asked.

"Because I have a kid," Aelita said and Ulrich chuckled, "I'm serious, there is no dating just me anymore, I'm a package deal now. No matter what, Hannah comes first."

"As I would hope she would," Ulrich said and smiled, "I'm shocked, and it did catch me off guard. I'm not running away."

"Doesn't this scare you?"

"Yes, it does. Just because I'm scared, doesn't mean we can't start over. I spent five years looking, and I didn't expect things to be the same. Are you willing to give us another chance?"

Aelita smiled and placed her head on his chest. Ulrich wrapped his arms around her and leaned into the couch more.

"Yes."


	9. Alexia Jonston

_**From this point on, there are no flashbacks. Consider this the after story.**_

Ulrich had to head back to Germany take care of a few last arrangements before he could head back to Aelita in Holland. It would only take a week or so, making Aelita less than concerned about the situation.

Aelita stepped out of her apartment, locking it behind her. She was on her way to the café to pick up Hannah from Richard. She made her way to the mail boxes in the lobby where she saw a brunette in shorts and a zipped up hoody, not to dissimilar from her clothing. Aelita smiled at her to be polite and opened her mailbox.

"Aelita Stones?" The woman asked and Aelita turned to her.

"Yes?" Aelita asked.

"Hi, I wanted to talk to you. My name is Alexia Jonston," Alexia said and Aelita didn't react at first. Aelita just shook her hand and thought.

"Hi," Aelita said and closed her mailbox, "I already said no."

"I know, your manager told mine. If you could just please humor me for an hour," Alexia said and Aelita looked at her watch and exhaled.

"I can't, I have to pick up my daughter from her dad. Take her to the park, grocery shop, I have a full day," Aelita explained, Alexia nodding.

"I get it," Alexia said and opened the door for Aelita and stepped out onto the street with her, "How old is your daughter?"

"She's two, I don't see why that's relevant to the discussion," Aelita said and walked faster.

"My son is three, just wanted to see if a play date was possible," Alexia said, making Aelita slow down and let her catch up. After another moment she stopped. Aelita looked at her and sighed.

"Fine, at eleven thirty I'll be at the park across the street from Donovans Deli, do you know it?" Aelita asked and Alexia nodded.

"I think so, worst case, google," Alexia replied, leaving Aelita to walk away, "Thanks!"

* * *

At eleven thirty Aelita lead Hannah through the park and helped her use the slide as Alexia showed up hand in hand with her son. Aelita gave a slight wave and led Hannah over.

"And who is this handsome little man?" Aelita asked, crouching down to his level.

"Luke, say hi," Alexia said, nudging him which only made him hide behind her legs, "Luke."

"It's fine, say hi Hannah," Aelita said, having no need to nudge Hannah who walked right over and grabbed Luke's hand with both of hers and shook it with exaggeration.

"I'm Hannah," she said, making both mothers laugh. Hannah then led Luke to the park by his hand.

"And they're off," Alexia said with a smile.

"Business?" Aelita asked and Alexia nodded

"So, I want you to mix for my next album and tour," Alexia said and Aelita smiled.

"Look, no offense, but our genres don't mix. I'm dubstep, EDM, and remix. You're…tween whatever," Aelita said, making Alexia laugh.

"It's called pop, and what do you mean you can't mix genres? You layer songs together from different genres. Aren't you the one who mixed an hour long track together, which was amazing by the way."

"It's not the genre thing, it's the tour thing," Aelita said to be honest.

"I heard you mixed for Jeanette Palmer a few years ago. You have my sympathies, she's a cunt," Alexia said and Aelita laughed, "I've heard the horror stories of that diva."

"Look, that tour, was the worst year of my life. The studio before was just as bad. That tour left me so drained, physically and emotionally. Now I have a daughter, so I don't see that getting easier," Aelita said, Alexia nodding in understanding.

"I learned the hard way what tours can do. Luke is my youngest," Alexia said and Aelita looked at him, then asked with her eyes when she looked back, "I have three. Grace is nine, Carol is five, and then I got my little man. I learned a lot from my first tour."

"Like what?" Aelita asked, sitting on the swings and watching Hannah lead Luke around.

"I was sixteen when I had Grace," Alexia said and sat down next to her, "And I didn't grow up right away. She lived with my aunt more than me. My career was everything, and I didn't even have one yet. I loved my daughter, but I may have loved music more at the time, so I told myself. In reality, I loved the idea of not having a baby more.

"I got discovered when I was seventeen. I had minor success as a backup singer, before I got a new label and manager and broke out when I was nineteen. I went full tour diva. I'm not proud, I'm actually kind of embarrassed to admit that. Drinking, drugs…fucking," Alexia said and Aelita awkwardly laughed, "Not proud."

"Is this going somewhere?" Aelita asked.

"The tour was a year long. I got back, went to my aunts to get Grace…and she didn't even recognize me. It wasn't just the time, it was like she never did recognize me in the first place. I wasn't a good mother. I never thought I could feel that way. She could have said she hated me, or didn't want to see me. The fact she didn't even know who I was hurt so much more.

"I did post tour press for a few months, and I broke down. I couldn't get the look she gave me out of my head. It was like she shot me with her eyes. The music was put on mute. I couldn't even hear myself sing. I hated myself, but I couldn't figure out why.

"Then during a rehearsal, I screamed at my crew, I lost my mind and I started screaming and crying. Nothing they did was wrong, it was all in my head. Everyone walked out, except Donald. He was my sound system roadie. He'd been there since day one, and I never knew his name. He sat down next to me and hugged me.

"I grabbed him and screamed into his chest. I drowned my sorrow into his shoulder. Then he was the first person to ask me. Just look straight at me and ask, 'what's wrong?'. I told him, my daughter didn't know who I was. Then he told me the simplest thing ever. 'Tell her who you are'. When he said that, I sprinted home, burst through the door, and just held my baby. I held her while I cried, 'I'm your momma.' Donald is my husband now."

"I'll admit you have my attention," Aelita said with a smile, "I'm still not sure."

"Last tour, I canceled three stops because Carol got sick. I'm not singing with sick babies at home. It wasn't always the case for me, but family comes first. I'm sure Hannah comes first second and third. My tour is ten months. Every month is a week off to go home and decompress. You will see your daughter. I make time for that, I make damn sure that happens, because I for damn sure will go see my kids."

Aelita smiled and let out a small laugh and looked at Hannah playing with Luke. Maybe a tour wouldn't be too bad.

"Tomorrow I'm recording," Aelita said and looked at her, "Bring some lines, and we'll see how it sounds."

"Really?" Alexia asked and Aelita nodded, "You'll do it?"

"I didn't say that," Aelita said, stopping her from getting excited, "But your odds have improved."

* * *

Aelita gave her the details of the studio Alexia left with Luke in hand. Taking Hannah, Aelita went shopping like she scheduled and went home afterwards. The next day she left the apartment and dropped off Hannah with Richard, explaining it was more business today in the studio. Richard was perfectly okay with her negotiating with Alexia Jonston.

Alexia had arrived first and Aelita lead her into the studio where she plugged in her lap top and Alexia pulled out a few song she had wrote.

Aeltia read the first song and several times asked her to sing it so she knew the inflections and pace. Her singing a few lines confirmed to Aelita she could actually sing and was more than just a "studio artist". Aeltia ran some noise behind it, and for hours they experimented.

Two hours in both were laughing, and Alexia was on her third bottle of water from singing so much. One song they agreed it was good as was, the music was a good match. One song Alexia scrapped entirely. A third was just not hitting the right marks.

"Maybe music is the problem?" Aelita asked and Alexia shook her head in disagreement.

"No, your music is fine."

"Not what I mean. Music, noise, anything right there," Aelita said, pointing the sheet of paper at the first few lines of the song, "Is the problem. A Capella the first few lines, then quietly bring the music in."

Alexia sang the first few lines and Aelita adjusted, but didn't like the spaces she created. Starting over Aelita kept a slow, quiet, build of a solid tone, then added another when Alexia started the next line. Alexia raised the volume of her voice as Aelita slowly built then significantly raised the volume.

Aelita played at that back and both enjoyed it. They looked at each other and Aelita knew she couldn't say no. This was too much fun, and had an energy she hadn't felt in such a long time.

"When I was in high school, I had a boyfriend. The best guy in the world and I'm not exaggerating. Considerate, strong, sensitive but don't tell him he is, the whole package. I loved him, I truly did. I truly do. I loved music more. I knew what I wanted to do, and instead of telling him, I left. We had one last great, passionate, amazing night, and I left.

"At first, everything was as amazing as I thought it would be. I took a train to Germany first. I spent a few months in a hostel, while entering every contest or club I could play. That's where I met Richard and he's been my manager since. After Germany was Luxemburg, then Sweden, then down to Italy. I lived in Palermo Sicily for a nearly a full year. I met Sven there, another DeeJay and we dated for a month before he slapped me. Figured it was time to leave after that.

"Not too long later when I was in Spain I met Adam. Three months in he was moving here, and I wanted to stay with him so I moved too. Less than a year later that relationship imploded, but just in time for Jeanette Palmer to be in my audience. By that point Richard's biggest client was in Amsterdam as well, so hitting that Palmer deal was the break we had been looking for.

"Jeanette Palmer, did a number on me," Aelita said with a laugh, "That fucking bitch brought me to the brink of insanity. Months straight, twenty hour days where I had no time to eat, sleep, think, breathe…nothing. I almost quit. Not just the tour, but also music. I almost stopped everything.

"Month seven of the Palmer tour, I was broken. She made me hate music. I'd look at the turn tables and I wanted to smash them to pieces. Then I realized, this was what I left him for. I left, the love of my life, for the other love of my life. And I felt like I chose wrong. I felt he wouldn't take me back even if I found him. I had nothing. I didn't have anything to love anymore.

"At month seven I snapped. Palmer was on another coke fueled bender. I preferred her on cocaine, she goes full lesbian on pot, but that's a different story. We were somewhere in the states. I think Austin, or Dallas, somewhere in Texas. I went to the balcony of the hotel, and I'm looking down. I'm high enough to not recognize the body. I'm standing on the railing, and I'm about to step. One moment away before Richard pulled me back in.

"He's screaming at me, and shouting that the tour is over. I was done, he was ending it. I kept pushing to keep going, but he pulled the plug. I was so desperate for, something, I slept with him that night, and safe to say I wasn't consistent with my pill during the drama of the last half year. I kind of assumed he had always been curious, but he's so professional it doesn't cross over very often. It was like waking up naked next to my brother. Felt the same for him. I felt more empty. Not kill myself empty, that shock knocked that option away.

"Two weeks later, I was late. But you know what, it didn't bother me. I went to the doctors and confirmed it, and I went home and cried. Tears of joy. Just when I hit rock bottom, I found something new to love. I love Hannah, more than anything. I still like music, but I haven't loved it for a long time."

Alexia smiled and grabbed Aelita's hand.

"I love music. I still do. Even after abandoning my daughter for it. I'm still trying to forgive myself for that, and maybe someday I will. But I also know, it's just a job at the end of the day. Do you know what I love doing?" Alexia asked and Aelita shook her head.

"Making my kids lunch," Alexia said and Aelita laughed, "I'm serious, I love it. Parenting is a job, am I right? But of the two I have, it's the one that doesn't feel like a job."

Aelita looked down, took a deep breath and finally said it.

"I'll do it."

"What?" Alexia asked and Aelita repeated, "Really?"

"We'll work out the legal and money with the lawyers and managers, and baby daddies," Aelita's said, Alexia giggling, "Just forewarning. If you become another Palmer, I will not be jumping off a building. I will fucking kill you."

"That's fair," Alexia said, the two shaking hands to the verbal agreement.


	10. Therapy

Richard was hard at work negotiating the contract with Freewave Records while Aelita was at home with Hannah and Ulrich. Since she was still in between contracts, she was working single night sets until she entered the studio with Alexia. The only thing she had left to do was to tell Ulrich. Aelita had no idea how to approach the subject.

They sat on her couch, Hannah sitting on the floor in front of them with crayons and several coloring books. Aelita leaned herself on Ulrich who draped an arm over her as they watch a movie. Ulrich looked at the time and saw she needed to leave soon for her set and nudged her. It was only then he noticed she dozed off somewhere in the middle.

"Hey, it's seven," Ulrich said, Aelita opening her eyes and seeing her clock. Groaning she sat up and stretched.

"Time for work, are you sure you don't want me to call the sitter?" Aelita asked and Ulrich shook his head.

"I can handle her," Ulrich said, Aelita thinking to herself if he was staying around, he'd have to be alone with her sooner or later. Aelita put on her shoes and coat, grabbed her laptop walked to Hannah and kissed her head.

"How did that contract thing go? You at the Ozone, or stratosphere lounge or whatever these clubs are called?" Ulrich asked and Aelita laughed and figured now was as good a time as ever. Ulrich already did half the leg work.

"Neither, I actually took the Alexia Jonston deal," Aelita answered and looked at Ulrich for his reaction. There didn't seem to be one.

"Oh, when does that start?" Ulrich asked and Aelita sighed.

"Ulrich, that's at least four months in a studio, then ten months on tour. That's the next year, most of it with me not here," Aelita said and looked at her watch, "We'll talk when I get back, I need to go."

"Okay," Ulrich said and opened the door for and kissed her before she left. Twenty seconds later she burst back in.

"She already had dinner, snacks are in the shelf, bath at eight, bed no later than nine…"

"Chapter seven of the book on the nightstand, door cracked, dishes need to be finished, kitchen needs to be swept, counters wiped and go, I got it," Ulrich said and Aelita smiled.

"Sorry, but it's the first time it hasn't been me or Richard watching her. It's a first for me too," Aelita said and Ulrich kissed her.

"We'll be fine, we'll talk later," Ulrich said and Aelita nodded , kissed him one last time and actually left.

* * *

Aelita arrived at home just passed eleven. Quietly closing the door she locked it as she kicked off her shoes and put her coat on the chair. The dishes were done, the counters wiped, the floor swept, Hannah's door was ajar. All seemed right. Walking over to Hannah's room she slowly opened the door and saw her soundly sleeping. Tip toeing in, Aelita kissed her head and tip toed back to her room and saw Ulrich the same.

Ulrich was laying on his back on top of the covers. It looked like he didn't plan on falling asleep, but accidentally did. Aelita sat next to him, and almost considered not waking him up. After a moment of stroking his hair, she nudged him and he jumped a little as his eyes opened.

"How was the show?" Ulrich asked.

"Fine, how was Hannah?" Aelita asked.

"Great," Ulrich replied.

"So that talk. I feel terrible about it," Aelita said and Ulrich was confused.

"Why?"

"Five years ago," Aelita said and looked away, "I left you, for music. Now we're back, and I'm leaving you, for music."

"It's not the same thing," Ulrich ensured as he got to a seated position, "I'm not waking up with a note on my bed. You are telling me directly."

"Because five years with a hole in my heart is not something I want to feel anymore. I loved music, but at the end of the day when I came home, I arrived to an empty apartment. The reason I never called again, was because I truly believed you wouldn't take me back even if I did. I was wrong, very wrong, but it's because I'm insecure."

"What? You're not insecure."

"I am, Ulrich. You were the first person to tell me I had a say in something. The moment I got out of Lyoko I had to play by these rules, to wrap my life in secrecy, surrounded by people who said it was for my own good. You were the first person, the only person who told me to tell them, fuck you."

Ulrich laughed, making Aelita do the same. Together they laughed and kissed once before Aelita smiled.

"You made me, addicted to having my way. It felt so good to say no. Doing something, without having to consult someone on it, was liberating. You made me feel free. It made me, afraid any answer being no, particularly you saying it. Just leaving was easier than having that conversation."

"Now we're having it," Ulrich said and Aelita took a deep breath and nodded, "But don't think about me, when making this decision. Think about Hannah."

"Ulrich, I told you when we got back together, you're going to be in second place. Hannah is number one, and will always be number one. In actuality, I want that to bother you. I know you're trying to be supportive, but for the love of god get mad at something," Aelita said and stood up off the bed and leaned against the door.

"I left you, and when you found me, you were mad. It was everything I was scared of, but I'm glad I saw it. It was the most honest I've ever seen you. But then, I bat eyelashes and all is forgiven?" Aelita asked and Ulrich exhaled and stood up.

"I don't forget what happened. I still don't even fully understand it, but I'm not saying yes to appease you. Does the fact you're planning for a tour the moment we get back together rub me the wrong way, sure. But I also know you're not making that decision lightly. You put me in second place a long time ago, it's not new to me. It was music, then me. Now, it's Hannah, then me.

"Richard told me about Palmer. I don't think he told me everything."

"He doesn't even know everything about that," Aelita said and closed the door, "I'm still recovering from that. I probably never will be recovered. Palmer, is a sociopath. She's batshit insane. I went in, knowing that. I figured she was a little cooky, but not crazy. She's abusive, manipulative, destructive, and an OCD control freak on top of it. The money was right, I loved the music I was mixing, so I did it.

"Some of the things I never told Richard because we had a huge bonus for the tour, hundreds of thousands. The money became my light at the end of the tunnel. Palmer threw microphones at me, shouted at me, cursed me out, but that never bothered me. What bothered me, was her trying to whore me out to her friends. On tour, nearly daily of her throwing strangers at me, telling them how ready and willing I was. She thought it was funny.

"Some of those guys, other musicians were as entitled as she was. They didn't take no very kindly. Four different times I had a roadie throw these guys away. A few managed to grope me, but those were the ones who seemed nice at first. Then the yelling, and shouting, and microphone throwing began to bother me. I began to lose sleep, fearing she was sending another guy to my hotel where security couldn't help.

"Seven months of that, I nearly killed myself . I stood on the railing of a balcony, twenty, thirty stories. I wasn't on the balcony, I was on the rail looking straight down. Richard pulled me back in, and he ended the contract.

"For a moment I cried in his chest and thought it was yours. When I realized it wasn't, I cried harder. I left you, for that. When crying in his chest, it felt like yours, and I felt safe. Safest I had ever been since the tour started. That something was enough, and then we slept together, which was awkward.

"Palmer, destroyed me. There was one thing I loved, and she took it away from me. She left me with nothing. That's why when I took the pregnancy test, I was happy. I remember it, vividly."

Aelita sat down next to Ulrich who had no idea how to respond to any of this. Aelita touched her stomach and smiled.

"I expected to be depressed about being pregnant. The poor me pity party was in full swing. The worst year of my life, sleeping with Richard and it being awkward, hell let's throw pregnant on top of that. Shit piling on top of shit. I sat in my bathroom on the floor, leaning against the tub, anxiously tapping the test in my hand. I remember saying, '_I've lost my parents, my friends, my love, music, and now this.'_ Then it was positive. That plus sign, and my heart didn't sink. It actually raised my spirits."

Aelita felt a few tears coming down her cheeks and wiped then away.

"For a moment, I was pissed at myself for not being pissed. The first thing that came to my mind when I saw it was positive. The first…" Aeltia said, getting choked up, giggling a little that it was choking her up, "The first thing I thought was I'm gonna love the shit of you."

Ulrich chuckled and she smiled at him, "Hannah saved my life. Even after the first scare, I don't think I completely took suicide off the table. I'm not sorry you're in second place, but if it makes you feel better, music is in third. At the end of the day, I want to come home to you and Hannah."

"I don't want you to do a tour," Ulrich said and she smiled, "I don't, I want you all to myself for a bit longer. I want to get to know Hannah, I even want to get to know Richard. The fact you're doing a tour, isn't meaningless. How did that conversation with Jonston go?"

Aelita went to get her laptop and returned a moment later. Sitting on the bed with the laptop on her lap, and opened the file with the Jonston collaboration and played the first song they made. Ulrich listened and slowly smiled. He saw Aelita listening to it, and saw her as she was five years ago. This was not the same woman who he watched record music with her daughter on her lap, a woman who seemed to treat music like a job instead of a passion.

Ulrich watched her and saw she was in love again. Something had returned, and it made him incredibly happy to see it.

"This is the Aelita I remember," Ulrich said and kissed her, "Which is why you do the tour. I think, this is the only way to fix what Palmer broke."

"Is a tour the answer?"

"Yes," Ulrich said and she looked down and away, "Look at me."

Slowly Aelita looked up at him, and Ulrich planted a deep kiss on his lips and pulled back to smile at her.

"You need this, and you need not feel bad about it. Consider it therapy, make yourself better for Hannah," Urich said and Aelita smiled.

"Using the daughter is cheap," Aelita said and kissed him again.


	11. Don't Know How To Ask

The contracts took three weeks to make, but once they were signed Aelita and Alexia went into the studio the very next day. Ten hours into the first session Alexia cut off and sent everyone home, thanking them as they left. Aelita still had her headphones on, and was so absorbed she could keep going for another ten hours.

"Aelita," Alexia said and tapped her shoulder. Aelita flinched as she turned, forming a smile as she giggled and pulled them off her ears.

"Hey," Aelita said, handing her the headphones, "Give a listen."

"Tomorrow," Alexia said, placing the headphones back on the turn table, "Great first day. Trust me I'm off the wall excited too, but I need to get home and tuck my kids in, and you should do the same. Same time tomorrow, first thing."

"Okay, it's just…I haven't been this excited about something is years," Aeltia said with an infectious smile.

"I haven't done a tour since before I was pregnant with Luke, so I feel it too. I have a loud house, this studio is quiet by comparison," Alexia said making Aelita giggle and clean up around her equipment. She put her laptop back in the bag and looked around for any last minute things before she nodded to herself and walked with Alexia out of the studio.

They talked as they reached the elevator and took it down to the first floor where Aelita waited with her as her car pulled up for her. Alexia waved as she got in, Aelita waving back and walking the three blocks Richard's where she picked up Hannah and walked with her the last ten blocks to her apartment where she made dinner and sat at the table with the laptop.

Dinner was done, Hannah was tucked in and Aelita sat in at her table with the laptop again. After almost falling asleep at the table she looked at the time at the bottom of the computer screen. It was two in the morning which made her groan and save her progress. Aelita closed the laptop and walked to her room where she collapsed with her clothes still on.

Aelita's alarm went off at six with her waking up and seeing Hannah was already awake. Breakfast was made, clothes were put on, and Aelita walked Hannah to Richard's. Hannah sat on the couch while Richard and Aelita sat at the table.

"How was the first day?" Richard asked, placing a cup of coffee in front of her as he sat across from her.

"It was awesome," Aelita said with a gleeful smile, "Real equipment is amazing. Everyone is a professional, I'm losing my mind in a good way for once."

"Good to hear, maybe after this contract we can get some real equipment for you. Maybe rent or buy a permanent studio," Richard said and Aelita shrugged.

"Maybe, let's cross that bridge when we get there. Do you mind having her tonight, cause I barely got any sleep last night, and when I get home today I'm gonna crash, I know I am," Aelita asked, Richard nodding and looking over at Hannah.

"I got her, don't worry, you don't need to ask," Richard smiled as she looked back at him.

* * *

Aelita finished a day in the studio and stopped by to kiss Hannah before going home and falling onto her bed. Her alarm went off, shaking her out of bed at seven. She prepared breakfast and packed a lunch before she locked her door behind her and walked to the studio. Picking up where they left off, she sat in the booth and put beats behind Alexia's singing.

They played back and forth, Aelita getting into a small argument with her producer who relented and walked away annoyed. When Aelita turned to see Alexia, she was laughing at the scene, making Aelita laugh because she couldn't hear because she turned off the booth feedback. She hit the switch and the room with filled with Alexia dying from laughter.

"What?" Aelita laughed.

"Nothing, I've just never seen Alvin so pissed," Alexia managed to say as she recovered, "I need a minute, I have no air left."

Alexia came into the booth and listened to the progress and played with the dials as well. Aelita sat trying to find what the fill some of the voids with. Alexia recommended cymbal tapping, but Aelita didn't like it, and the more she listened, neither did Alexia.

"We have an entire orchestra worth of instruments, want to take a break and just listen till it fits?" Alexia suggested. Aelita looked at her watch and saw it was two in the afternoon, meaning she was hours passed lunch and hadn't eaten yet.

"I need to eat anyway," Aelita said, leaving the booth, grabbing her lunch and meeting Alexia in the auditorium where they sat in the front row and had the musicians play the instruments one at a time.

Aelita plugged her laptop into the speaker system and played it, then asked the musicians to fill in the gaps or add complimentary elements. Violin, piano, flute, clarinet, piccolo, cello, guitar, oboe; nothing seemed to fit. Suddenly something did almost fit; saxophone.

"Could I hear that again, tempo increase in another key?" Aelita asked.

"Which key?"

"Surprise us," Alexia said, nodding to Aelita who replayed it again. He played a new key, and it wasn't t. He tried another and it was nearly there.

"I think we have the right instrument and key, what the hell is wrong?" Alexia asked.

"Might I suggest a new key, alternating tempo?"

"You're the expert," Alexia said and he played it with the music and it was like a glove.

"That's it, one more time," Aeltia said and started it again, "Aelita approves."

"This is why I wanted you," Alexia said with a grin, "Thanks Louis."

"Always a pleasure Ms. Jonston."

As Louis cleared the other musicians and Aelita packed her laptop, Alexia looked at the time and saw it was six in the afternoon.

"We'll pick up that song tomorrow, go home," Alexia said to Aelita who looked at her watch.

They went down together again, and talked as they waited for Alexia's car to arrive.

"How do you and Richard handle Hannah?" Alexia asked, Aelita surprised by the question, "Just curious."

"I hope we do right by her. We think she understands, we aren't together, but it's hard to tell. We're flexible, we don't fight, and we share time with her and us together. Not the usual ending of the cliché of young artist sleeping with her manager."

"I'm married to my roadie, I'm in no position to judge," Alexia said, Aelita smiling .

"Richard helped me through a rough patch. When I really needed comfort, he was the only one there. It was only once, but once it all it takes," Aelita said and Alexia laughed.

"Only once?" Alexia asked, giving her a doubting face.

"Well, a few times when I was pregnant, but only to relieve the horny hormones," Aelita said, them both laughing

"Got a boy toy outside of work?" Alexia asked and Aelita smiled just thinking about Ulrich.

"I recently reconnected with my high school boyfriend," Aelita said, Alexia remembering she mentioned him already.

"I knew you had an old boyfriend, didn't know he was back," Alexia said.

"He found me after five years."

"Stalker much," Alexia said, Aelita playfully pushing her.

"I never stopped loving him," Aelita said with a grin, "He's really great with Hannah, and the shock of me having a kid didn't seem to bother him too much."

"That's good, daughter seal of approval matters. Grace absolutely fell in love with Donald, day one. Every doubt I had about him, she corrected course. We had a huge fight once, and Grace ran away to his apartment, knowing I'd follow her right to him. Sometimes the kids know better than we do."

Alexia's car pulled up leaving them to part ways. Aelita walked to Richard's and ate dinner with him and Hannah, discussing their days. Richard had received a call from Jeanette Palmer's agent.

"I don't even want to know what that…woman wants," Aelita said, controlling her language around Hannah. Just her name was enough to inspire rage.

"In so many words I told them to insert things in certain places," Richard said, also careful of his language, "And those words were quite literal."

"Good."

"But, the talk on Alexia's album is already buzzing. She hasn't recorded for a few years, and Freewave already released a two song EP to start the slow drip hype. Everyone wants to know, who's the mixer?"

"What?" Aelita asked, unable to hide her smile.

"I got twenty eight calls today from different studios and independents. Everyone wants to know when you're free or how much to break contract," Richard said, pulling his phone from his pocket, "And that was before I turned it off because it was bugging me."

"I appreciate the offers, but I'm finishing Jonston, no matter the numbers," Aelita said and Richard hissed through his teeth, "No matter what."

"They were pretty big," Richard said and Aelita giggled.

"They'll wait."

* * *

The album was finished three months later and it entered the marketing phase and post production. Aelita's role at this point was minimal, so for a few months it was her Hannah and Ulrich until the tour kicked off in three months. The tour entered pre production, stage and prop building with the schedule and locations being fleshed out. Aelita only had one position on the stage, so she only had to show up for rehearsals once.

"What are you going to do when you get back?" Ulrich asked Aelita who smiled as she rested her head on her chest.

"I don't know, maybe get a real studio," Aelita said, rolling to her side and pulling herself under his arm, "Maybe a bigger apartment."

"I, got an interview nearby," Ulrich said making Aelita curious.

"Really, thinking about making this long distance, a little shorter?"

"Money is about the same, makes sense, I can help Richard with Hannah," Ulrich said, Aelita laughing.

"Something I wanted to run passed you, for when I got back. Do you want…want to move in?" Aelita asked and Ulrich smiled.

"Really, already?" Ulrich asked and Aelita groaned, "What?"

"My next question is worse," Aelita said, unsure if she should ask it now.

"I want to move in. I thought you'd need more time, but no I'm on board. What's the other?"

"Never mind," Aelita said and rolled to her side, "Forget I said anything."

"Aelita," Ulrich said, her turning and seeing his face and she looked away.

"I'm not even sure how to ask. Hannah, is one of the best things to ever happen to me. If I thought moving in was presumptuous," Aelita said released on awkward chuckle. She pushed her back against the wall and sat her with her knees to her chest.

"Aelita, just ask."

"When I get back…do…never mind," Aelita said and Ulrich grabbed her leg and in a swift motion slid her down the bed and off the wall. Rolling on top, he kissed her, making her giggle.

"Ask."

"When I get back, do you want…want to…do you…"

"Don't be afraid of it being no."

"I want to have your baby," Aelita finally said. She didn't ask, she just said it. Ulrich froze, one of those rare moments where he was so shocked it paralyzed him, "That bad?"

"Not bad, just…" Ulrich stammered and sat up. Aelita sat up as well, looking at him, gauging what was going on in his head.

"Too fast?" Aelita asked.

"Maybe," Ulrich said, releasing an awkward chuckle and rubbing the back of his head.

"I know I could have said that better. I don't just want to have another baby. I want to have your baby," Aelita said and Ulrich was silent, "Well?"

"I just don't know if I'm ready for a kid," Ulrich said and Aelita shook her head and stood up off the bed, "What?"

"So says the guy, who entered a relationship with a mom," Aelita said and threw a shirt on, not in the mood to be naked anymore.

"That's not fair."

"Why not? I have a kid Ulrich, which is never, not going to be part of this. Like I said, there is no just dating me. So unless you can wrap your head around being a father like influence to my little girl, you might want to rethink this whole relationship thing. I know she has a father, who is great and present and will always be a good and active part of her life, but that doesn't mean you aren't a part of her life because she isn't yours."

"Aelita, can't we just enjoy what we have now?" Ulrich asked, Aelita placing her palms into her face and exhaling.

"For how long Ulrich, until you realize you don't want kids at all?" Aelita asked.

"I do want kids."

"So why not now?"

"Why now? Why are you in such a hurry for everything?" Ulrich asked.

"Because I!" Aelita shouted, then realized she didn't know why. Calming herself down before she started to tear up. She sat on the bed and placed her head on Ulrich's shoulder, him draping his arm over her.

"I just do, Ulrich. Maybe's it's because I don't have a family," Aelita said and sighed into sighed into his chest, "Why is it weird I know what I want?"

"It's not, it's great that you do," Ulrich said and Aelita pushed herself away from him.

"But?" Aelita asked.

"I'm not there yet," Ulrich said and Aelita tried to say something but swallowing her own voice. After nearly a full minute Ulrich finally said, "I do want kids. Just not now."

"Will you want them in ten months?" Aelita asked and Ulrich sighed.

"I don't know."

"Ulrich, I have a daughter, who whether or not you like it, will look at you like a second dad. What if you don't want kids in five years, and I have to explain to my daughter why she doesn't see you as often? I'm not gambling on your uncertainty."

"So, what does this mean?"

"Get out Ulrich, go," Aelita said, her face tearing as he looked at her open the door and gesture. Ulrich sighed and got dressed slowly before leaving her room and stopping at the front door. Ulrich opened his mouth to say something, he pivoted his foot to go back to her room, but finished neither action. Ulrich without a word, left, closing the door behind him.


	12. Apprehensions

Ulrich went home to Berlin after the break up and got a call from Yumi a week later. Yumi and William were going to be in town for a day on their way to visit some of William's family, so asked if he wanted to join them for some dinner. He said yes, figuring he hadn't talked to them since a week into dating Aelita to tell her he found her.

They met three blocks away from his apartment, Ulrich arriving and getting a table just as they entered. Ulrich hugged Yumi and shook Williams hand before they all sat down and ordered.

"How's Aelita?" Yumi asked first, curious what her friend was up to.

"We, actually just kind of broke up," Ulrich said, Yumi looking at William in shock then back at Ulrich.

"What, why?"

Ulrich told them about the baby thing, and Yumi slowly began to understand Ulrich's side.

"I understand that she wants to have kids right now, but I'm not ready for that," Ulrich said and William shook his head.

"No one is ever ready for that. You adapt and you do the best you can," William said Yumi sighed.

"William, some people know they aren't ready. How does Aelita even know she's ready for kids?" Yumi asked and Ulrich looked at them confused. Then he realized he never told them.

"I didn't…tell you did I?" Ulrich asked and she shook her head, "Aelita has a two year old."

Yumi and William were silent, both trying to respond. Yumi managed to finally say, "What?"

"Hannah, Aelita has a daughter named Hannah," Ulrich said and opened his phone his back drop was still a picture of him Aelita and Hannah at the park.

"You are an asshole, Ulrich," Yumi said as she looked at it.

"Why?" Ulrich asked, shocked at the sudden shift from her.

"You're with a woman who has a daughter, and are confused when she's surprised you don't want kids," William explained.

"But I do want kids, just not now."

"Ulrich, you cannot say you're not ready for kids, and then date a woman who has one. It doesn't work that way," Yumi said, staring him down till he looked down and sighed.

"So, what's up with you guys?" Ulrich asked, hoping to change the topic. It failed.

"No no no, nice try," Yumi said waving her finger, "Aelita was right to dump you over this. Her concerns are valid. She's not looking for a boyfriend; she's looking for a husband, a partner, a father. She already sees that in you, she trusted you enough with her daughter that she wants to have a baby with you."

"You don't think that's a little impulsive?" Ulrich asked.

"For a woman who has kids, to be thinking about kids, sounds reasonable to me," William said, Ulrich wanted to rebuttal but didn't when he realized that was in fact, reasonable.

"Ulrich, you really do have two choices. Leave her alone, or you're having a kid. I really don't see a middle ground with her. Maybe you can talk her into a few years, but she wants you to have them now. When you consider, her family, it makes sense."

"She brought that up," Ulrich said, fidgeting in his seat, not expecting this conversation, "She said she wasn't gambling on when I would want them too."

"She shouldn't," William said, Ulrich turning to him, "Aelita is not in a position to be gambling on relationships. You are not her primary concern, nor should you be. I get you want it to just be you two for a bit longer, but the thing is, it was never just you two to begin with."

Ulrich couldn't help but feel Yumi was right. He was an asshole. The moment he started dating Aelita again he basically did sign on to the notion he was ready for kids.

Yum saw how uncomfortable this was for Ulrich, so changed topics once she assumed he got the point. Ulrich thanked her with his eyes, them both laughing at how the habit of talking with their eyes never died.

Aelita had left for the tour nearly a full month ago and hadn't returned any of Ulrich's calls to her. It was hard to tell if she was actively avoiding him or just busy. After no luck in contacting her, he called Richard who was still around with Hannah. Ulrich asked if they could meet, and Richard said he could and arranged coffee.

They arrived at the same location they first met, Richard leaving Hannah with his mother.

"I see Aelita is driving you crazy for a different reason she usually drives me," Richard said to break the silence that lasted for nearly a full two minutes after they shook hands and sat down.

"Yeah, you can say that. Do you know anything at all, about why Aelita and I, broke up?" Ulrich asked.

"I have a guess. A few months before you came back, she asked if I ever wanted more kids. I said, maybe, just need to find her. She suggested if we couldn't find anyone, we could have more together. Did she ask you for a baby?"

Ulrich chuckled and nodded, Richard laughing from being right.

"I reacted, less than great," Ulrich admitted.

"I damn near shit myself when Aelita told me she was pregnant," Richard said, surprising Ulrich. Ulrich saw him very together and not easily rattled, managing to exercise control and adapt easily.

"You seem so put together."

"I managed ten artists, answered over a hundred calls a day, returned more than that in emails, and negotiated salaries and contracts. Imagine I'm drowning, then hand me a baby. The contrast of Aelita being so gitty while pregnant is so sitcom worthy, I can't even describe," Richard said, laughing to himself how funny it was.

"You make it look easy," Ulrich said, Richard smiling, him being a parent made that a rather large compliment.

"Thank you, but it isn't. It didn't work out, we made it work. Aelita doesn't do half the shows she used to. When I first met her, she'd do upwards to three shows a night, nonstop. She's seems sweet and innocent now, but trust me, Hannah domesticated her. Aelita was a hardcore party girl, no drugs that I saw, but she can out drink you," Richard said with a laugh.

"I'm a workaholic, probably why we never hit it off. I'm too much of a square for her, by evidence that I just used the word square in context. I used to have ten clients, now I have four. You will have apprehensions, but those go away."

"When?"

"The fact I was going to be a father didn't dawn on me till I got a call from a nurse saying Aelita was in labor. I was in a contract signing meeting, I told them, they understood, I left. I arrived at the hospital, too late. Missed the birth by five minutes, and that still pisses me off.

"I went to her room, she was fine. She dilated, she pushed, she was done. Relatively fast birth, like a pro. A minute later a nurse came in, asked me if I wanted to hold her. That's when my apprehensions dissolved. My fear didn't, and still hasn't, but I'm not afraid of being a father, just being a bad one. Hannah owned me the moment I held her."

"I'm going to level with you," Ulrich said and Richard nodded, "I'm scared to have kids."

"I'm going to level with you, if you don't think you can handle kids, I don't want you anywhere near Aelita, because you're near my daughter too."

"I get that, I do. But I love Aelita. I never stopped, even after she left me. I just don't know if I'm ready to be what she needs," Ulrich said, Richard finishing his coffee and sighing.

"Then you aren't," Richard said and Ulrich blinked, "If you are going to be with Aelita and by extension my daughter, you need to grow a pair and man up. If not, you need to walk away, and this time never find her again."

Ulrich sat quiet before he nodded, understanding everything he said. He thanked up him and shook his hand before leaving.


	13. Happy Birthday

Aelita stood on the side of the camera watching Alexia do a preconcert interview. A make-up artist was adding some foundation and a little bit of eye shadow. Aelita was holding back laughter, knowing Alexia hated make-up being applied like this. Alexia often did it herself, but this was for press and her manager insisted. The artist tried to apply some gloss to her lips, making Alexia flinch away from her.

"I'm twenty six, not twelve, get that gloss away from," Alexia said, the artist apologizing and leaving her alone. She looked over at Aelita and mouthed 'fuck you', making Aelita blow her kiss.

"You know you love it," Aelita said, Alexia flipping her off.

"Miss Jonston, do you want a second to go over the questions?" The interviewer asked.

"No, fuck it, let's wing it," Alexia said, the woman smiling and nodded.

"Alright, if you could…"

"I won't curse on camera."

"Thank you," she said then looked at the camera guy who counted backwards from ten, then used his hand to continue quietly starting from five.

"I'm here with Alexia Jonston, getting a behind the scenes look at her new album and tour, _Metamorphosis_," she said, holding up the album before placing it back on her lap and looked at Alexia, "Miss Jonston, you haven't done an album in a few years. Why now?"

"Well first of all, I had a baby," Alexia said with a smile.

"Congratulations."

"Thank you, and I wanted time with him before I went back. Three years is a long time, and when I went back, I wanted it to be for the right reasons."

"Sure."

"The first thing is I'm the least important person in my crew. I sing, that's it. If I stop singing, they could all get jobs somewhere else. Not me, they walk, I got nothing. Knowing that, I wanted a new sound. Leo has been great, three albums, he's done phenomenal work, but he agreed it was time to inject the act with a new beat. I set out to find a new mixer."

"And you found one," the interviewer said and smiled, "I wanted to talk about that later, but right now works too. How did you find this mixer?"

"I listened to music" Alexia answered, "I spent months with my ears in headphones, listening to music. Then my daughter handed me an album. Jeanette Palmer, _Forgotten Heart_, bubble gum garbage," Alexia said, the two laughing, Aelita absolutely losing it, the camera man shooting her a weird look.

"But the music, stood out. She had, an incredible mixer for that album. I set out to find that mixer. I found the guy, and it wasn't him. The mixer left the tour early, and had her name removed from the personnel credits of the album. Took me four months to track her down, but I did, and here we are."

"You released a two track EP, and the fans went crazy. My niece is a huge fan, and I played _Impaired _for her, she actually asked me who it was. I told her you, and she went insane. It was like discovering her favorite thing all over again."

"That's the greatest compliment an artist can get, that might have made my year," Alexia said with a genuine grin, "That's what I live for. The fact after four albums I can still get a reaction makes it worth it."

"Some personal life questions, you've been hesitant in the past."

"I still am," Alexia said, this interview the first time she flat out said she has kids.

"You mentioned a son and daughter, any other babies?"

"If the audience must know, I have three."

"Three, holy smokes, where do you find time?"

"If it's important, you find the time."

The interview wrapped up, Alexia shaking hands and signing an autograph for her niece before Aelita walked around the camera and smiled at her.

"You are…a celebrity. Didn't occur to me till just now," Aelita said and Alexia smiled.

"Shut up, I hate interviews, always feels fake. Anyway, I'm mad at you," Alexia said, confusing Aelita.

"Why?"

"See, I'm practically your best friend, and you didn't tell me something a best friend usually knows," Alexia said, Aelita figuring it out and groaning.

"Who told you?"

"Richard."

"Ass face."

"It's your birthday. What the hell Lita, no heads up. No night off, wild party, you're a single lady right now."

"Don't start with that. We didn't, technically break up. Never said we were over. Granted we haven't spoken since I left," Aelita said and Alexia smiled.

"You know I'm kidding. Call him," Alexia said and Aelita sighed, "He's called you."

"I know, but I'm worried it's him saying we're over."

"You never know, grow a pair, and call your boyfriend," Alexia said, Aelita nodding and pulling out her phone. Alexia kissed her head and left her, Aelita sliding her phone open and calling him.

"You've reached Ulrich," it said, and she hung up. She hated voice mail, after a moment she sucked it up and called again, "You've reached Ulrich, I cannot answer my phone at the moment. Leave your name, number, and a brief message, and I will get back to you as soon as possible. _Beep._"

"Hey, it's me. Sorry I've missed a few….dozen calls. I don't like the way our last conversation went. I reacted like a brat, I know I did. I miss you, and please tell me, you didn't go and think we were over. If you want to wait, we can wait. I shouldn't have put that pressure on you. Call me back, okay. Love you."

* * *

"How are you tonight London!" Alexia shouted over the microphone, the audience shouting back, "We had a great time tonight, and I'd usually be ending the show right about now. However, I'm mad."

The audience shouted back and Alexia giggled.

"You fucking bitch," Aelita said to herself laughing, knowing what Alexia was about to do.

"Your DeeJay for tonight, Aelita, didn't tell me it was her birthday. How about we all give, the biggest happy birthday in history, can you help me with that?" Alexia asked and the crowd went wild. Alexia walked over to Aelita who shook her head and was dragged center stage by Alexia.

Aelita had worked crowds before, but not center stage with tens of thousands. This was the first time she was nervous on stage, and looked down and away.

"She's shy, give her a cheer," Alexia said, the crowd going wild again, "Happy birthday, on three. One, two, three."

Aeltia stood center stage, beat red embarrassed with nearly a hundred thousand people singing her happy birthday. When it was over, the concert ended after two encore songs. Alexia stayed to sign a few autographs leaving Aelita to head to the hotel by herself. A roadie drove her back and as she drove her phone rang. Checking the caller ID, it was Ulrich.

"Ulrich, hey," Aelita said, unable to hide the smile on her face.

"Hey, thanks for the call," Ulrich said, his voice alone being such a relief to hear.

"Figured I should. I hope you didn't think we were over," Aelita said and Ulrich laughed.

"It crossed my mind, but I didn't assume too much."

"Just finished a show, London is great," Aelita said, smiling at the happy birthday moment.

"Happy Birthday by the way," Ulrich said, making Aelita smile wider.

"Thanks, get me anything?" Aelita asked, her car pulling in front of the hotel that she walked into.

"Maybe, see you in a minute," Ulrich said and hung up.

"What?" Aelita asked and walked into the lobby to see everyone. Ulrich stood next to Richard with Hannah in his arms. Yumi stood next to William with Odd and Jeremie sitting down.

"Happy birthday!" They all shouted, surprising the staff and making the entire lobby look toward them. Aelita was overwhelmed, looking at her friends she hadn't seen in nearly six years. Yumi for nearly seven.

"Oh my god," Aelita said and ran over to Ulrich and hugged him. Kissing him she looked over at Richard and took Hannah from him, "Hey sweetie." Hannah was barely awake, but she wanted to stay up to see her.

Aelita looked over at everyone, Odd and Jeremie standing up to hug her. She arrived at Yumi and hesitated. She left her relationship with Yumi almost as bad as Ulrich's.

"Hey," Aelita said, Yumi looked back at her with a smile.

"Hey," Yumi said and looked at Hannah, "She's beautiful."

"I'm sorry, how things ended," Aelita said and Yumi nodded.

"Don't be, I tried to steal your boyfriend. When I said best friend, I meant it," Yumi said and hugged her, "Don't leave us again, okay."

"Okay, wanna hold her?"

"Uh, yeah," Yumi said and took Hannah from Aelita, "She's so cute…I want one," Yumi said to William.

"She's half kidding," Aelita said to him, William laughing.

The next several hours, Richard took Hannah upstairs to bed to sleep as Aelita and everyone caught up. Several hours passed midnight they all said they'd meet each other in the morning for breakfast before they all needed to catch flight back to wherever. Ulrich and Aelita went to her room and kissed, Aelita smiling at him and resting her head in his chest.

"Best birthday, ever," Aelita said, smiling as she said it.

"I'm glad."

"I feel like, everything just fixed itself. You were right, Palmer doesn't hurt anymore. I have Hannah, and music, and even my friends again. Nothing feels out of place anymore," Aelita said and walked over to her suitcase and opened it for her pajamas.

"About our last conversation," Ulrich said and Aelita nodded.

"I know, and when I said we could wait, I meant it. I'll wait till we're both ready," Aelita said and Ulrich came up from behind and wrapped his arms around her. Aelita leaned into him, placing her hands on his arms and feeling his embrace.

"I want you to have my baby," Ulrich said, Aelita actually jumping a little from shock, "Does sound bad when you say it like that."

"What?" Aelita asked.

"I want to have a baby," Ulrich said and Aelita smiled.

"What changed your mind?" Aelita asked.

"I'm still going to be just as scared in five years. I am ready, but my fear is making those decisions. I don't want to be afraid. I'm ready when you are," Ulrich said, Aelita smiling, turning around the kiss him.

"When I finish the tour," Aelita said, Ulrich nodding.

"Okay."


	14. One Year Later

_**One Year Later**_

Aelita sat in the bathroom on the floor, her back against the bathtub, anxiously tapping a pregnancy test in her hand. After an agonizingly long wait it began to beep, alerting her it was finished. Taking a deep breath, she held it eye level and look opened her eyes. Negative.

"Fuck," Aelita said, shaking her head and throwing it across the room. She had been back from tour for over four months, and every test she had taken since they started trying was negative.

Aelita hugged her knees and thought before she heard Ulrich coming home with Hannah. Standing up and washing her face she stepped of the bathroom and kissed Hannah, then Ulrich as he put some bags on the table.

"Hey," Ulrich said, sitting down, scrolling through his phone and placing it on the table after seeing his email was empty, "You okay?"

"It was negative again," Aelita said, sitting next to him and releasing a sigh, "I want to go to the doctor."

"It's only been a few months," Ulrich said, hoping to alleviate her fears.

"It took a one night stand last time. We've been going at like jack rabbits and I can't even get a false positive to get my hopes up," Aelita said, annoyed.

"Set an appointment, I'll get myself checked out too," Ulrich said, grabbing her hand and smiling, "It'll happen."

* * *

Aelita went to a doctor a few days later, and sat in the waiting room waiting to get her results a few days after that. Sitting with her phone in her lap, she scrolled through pictures from Yumi. Aelita smiled at the pictures from her ultrasound, showing she was having twins.

"Aelita Stones?" The receptionist said, Aelita standing up and walking over. Aelita was led down a few halls and into an office where she waited another minute before the doctor stepped in and sat at her desk.

They made a minute of small talk, Aelita waiting to hear it was all in her head.

"Physically, you're healthy, and you've already had a baby, so this is a fairly straight forward conversation. You're fine," The doctor said with a smile.

"What's the issue then?" Aelita asked.

"Off the top of my head, it's either your unlucky, or it's not you," the doctor said, Aelita looking down and thinking about Ulrich, "Don't get discouraged."

* * *

When Aelita arrived home she saw Ulrich sitting at the table, reading something on his laptop. Looking over his shoulder and kissing the side of his head, she saw it was work related. Ulrich leaned his head and kissed her, smiling as she pulled away.

"How was the doctors?" Ulrich asked.

"It's a matter of luck, not biology," Aelita said sitting down next to him, "You hear anything."

"Same thing, looks like we're just going to have to keep having sex," Ulrich said with a grin, Aelita returning it and kissing him again.

"Oh pity," Aelita sarcastically said, leaning her elbows on the table and checking her phone, "Seriously though, this is taking a long time."

"I had it worked out in my head it'd be immediate too," Ulrich said, closing his laptop and standing up, "Dinner?"

"It's ready to cook, fridge, right side," Aelita said, leaving Ulrich to open the fridge and get the food ready.

* * *

Five months after the tour, Aelita met Alexia for lunch when she rolled back into town from her vacation. They hugged and while they were close, Alexia placed her hand on Aelita's stomach and shook her head.

"No luck yet?" Alexia asked, sitting down and sipping the water the server brought.

"Nope, and it's all going to be luck. Ulrich and I are fertile. Just need to keep having sex," Aelita said, attempting to make it sound it sad.

"Oh poor you, having to climb into the sheets with a Greek statue that has a pulse," Alexia said with a grin, them both laughing, "So, any plans on getting married?"

"We haven't really talked about it," Aelita answered.

"You're trying for a baby and not even discussing marriage?" Alexia asked, surprised.

"I'll say yes if he asks, if that makes you feel better," Aelita said, Alexia agreeing that was at least acceptable, "Did it ever take this long for you?"

"Carol we're almost positive was our honeymoon, and I was two weeks pregnant with Luke when we decided for a third."

"That's convenient. I get pregnant off a one night stand, but can't get pregnant on purpose," Aelita said, Alexia smiling.

"Give it time."

* * *

Aelita sat with headphones on in her studio, listening to her feedback, adjusting where she thought needed improvements. Hearing a door open behind her, she saw Richard walk in and leaned against the machine. Aelita smiled, and took her headphones off.

"Hey," Aelita said, placing the headphones on the table.

"Got a few job offers. Ozone wants a star attraction for new years, and Palmer's agent just keeps calling. Artist remorse perhaps?"

"Let's hope that bitch slits her wrists. Tell the Ozone I'll do it," Aelita said and looked at the knobs.

"Palmer's agent dropped some numbers."

"Don't care," Aelita said and looked up at him, "There is no price."

"It's been years…"

"It's been years since I was standing on a balcony about to kill myself. Did you forget that?"

Richard sighed while nodding slowly, "Sorry, you know how I get when the money is painful to turn down. They were offering seventy for two weeks of studio work on one song."

"I'll admit, that's tempting," Aelita said and smiled, "I'd still rather get hit by a bus."

"Noted, file all Palmer requests to the 'fuck off' bin."

"Thank you," Aelita said with a smile and turned back to the equipment.

"How far along are you?" Richard asked, taking a seat next to her. Aelita exhaled and turned to him.

"Zero weeks, not pregnant."

"I thought you were trying right when you got back?" Richard asked, the fact she didn't look pregnant is what made him curious how long it took them.

"We were, but it hasn't happened yet. Not from lack of effort though," Aelita said with a grin.

"Remember, right before Ulrich came back, you asked me?"

"Yeah," Aelita said, laughing, "I just wanted another baby so bad I wasn't thinking that one through."

"What was wrong with it?" Richard asked, Aelita looking at him and shaking her head.

"We're really good friends, and good parents…but…do we work beyond convenience?"

"We just threw away seventy grand, let me know when you start being convenient," Richard said with a smile, Aelita wanting to say something but only laughed, "I tell my other clients to suck it up and deal with it. You're the only one who causes me this agony."

"So drop me, lord knows I wouldn't be hurting for representation," Aelita said and Richard shook his head, "I'm the mother of your daughter, you've always given me a break."

"I've been giving you a break long before we were even an accident. Remember Frankfurt when we passed up the biggest advance we had ever been offered because the clubs glow sticks gave you headaches or the private party in Venice because you didn't like the guy's girlfriend?"

"She was a bitch…"

"Who was paying us a price that was at the time a pretty good pay day for us. I'd have dropped any other client for that. I've dropped clients for a whole lot less."

"So why didn't you drop me?" Aelita asked, Richard looking away and shrugging, "Ahh, did you have a crush on me?" Aelita asked with a grin.

Richard looked up with a small grin and held his hand up, his thump nearly touching his index finger and said, "Little bit, but that's all it would ever be."

Aelita sighed, looking down she exhaled tried not to react. Unable to hold back her frustration, she looked back up.

"I get where you're coming from, but stop making me sound like a bitch because you didn't have to balls to tell me," Aelita said and stood up off the chair and paced, "All it would ever be? We have a daughter, and a year ago, I propositioned you for more kids."

"Not because you wanted me," Richard said, emphasizing himself by pointing at his chest with his thumb, "Not like If you knew Ulrich was coming back you'd do it all over again."

Without hesitation Aelita closed the gap and slapped him across the face. The clap echoed in the room for nearly two full seconds, Richard's face recoiling, his head refusing to right itself.

"Don't you dare fucking say that. Hannah is us, and I wouldn't trade that for anything. I could be on that balcony right now, knowing full well I was seeing Ulrich tomorrow, and I'd still have your baby today. There is no scenario, no dream where I choose Ulrich over that. The best part of Hannah is you. It's so easy to not be a father today, and you are a great father, and an even better man. Don't you let anyone ever tell you differently, especially yourself."

Richard smiled while rubbing his cheek, turning to see Aelita smiling back. He let out a single chuckle before lowering his hand and just looked at her.

"What?" Aelita asked.

"I needed that, thanks," Richard with, chuckling again, "I'm too much of a dork for you anyway."

"That kind of thinking is exactly why you're right," Aeltia said with a small smile, kissing his cheek and as she left said, "Think about that for a moment."


	15. Jeanette Palmer

Ulrich slowly assisted a young woman in a slow squat, ensuring her form was correct and she was going low enough. The woman was recovering after a car accident and Ulrich was her assigned physical therapist at the hospital. His phone went off on a table in the room, Ulrich ignoring it so he could continue to watch her progress.

Yvonne broke her back in a car accident nearly a year ago, and was slowly regaining full use of her body. Ulrich had been her physical therapist for three months, and had helped her reach a level where she was practically free from her cane, and moving onto very light weights to rebuild strength. Yvonne was only a year younger than Ulrich, with short blonde hair like a boy, making him at first assume she was a lesbian, until a few unintentionally awkward moments where she flirted with him revealed otherwise.

"Good Yvonne, back up, slow," Ulrich said, watching her back and spine, making sure she wasn't applying too much pressure with poor form.

A moment later the phone rang again.

"Just get it, it's probably Aelita," Yvonne said, Ulrich having talked her ear off about her for a few months now.

"Do ten more." Ulrich walked to his phone to see it was indeed Aelita who was calling. Ulrich pressed answer and put it to his ear. "Hey."

"It took five months, three weeks, and two days, but I'm pregnant," Aelita said, absolutely jubilant.

"Are you serious?" Ulrich said, actually surprised a smile and not dread spread across his face.

"I am, need to go to the doctors next week but I'm pretty sure this is the real deal," Aelita answered.

"We'll celebrate when I get home," Ulrich said, Aelita giggled, "What?"

"I just liked the way you said that. Love you, bye." Aelita said and hung up. Ulrich said it back and placed it back on the table. Turning around he said Yvonne placing the bar on the ground and wiping a layer of sweat off her forehead.

"You knock her up finally?" Yvonne asked, Ulrich chuckled and nodded, "You did, congrats."

"Thanks," Ulrich said, leaning against the table, her smiling at him.

"Outside of a scare I had a few years ago, I've never really had having a baby on my mind. Getting sideswiped off a bridge makes you adjust priorities."

"It's on your mind now?"

"I'd always say I have time, or it's not for me. Do you know what happens next? You wake up at thirty five, alone, with all of the good men taken. I'm only twenty three and they're already getting snatched up," Yvonne said, shooting him a look that made Ulrich look away.

"That's the hour," Ulrich said, looking at the clock. Yvonne nodded, understanding he didn't even want to play with flirting, but disappointed he took the fun out of it.

"Thanks as always Ulrich, see you on Thursday."

* * *

Ulrich woke up from the bed shifting, looking up to see nothing, but then suddenly heard Aelita puking. Flipping on the light, Ulrich stepped into the bathroom to see Aelita spit the last bit into the bowl.

"How bad does this get?" Ulrich asked.

"Couldn't tell you, I didn't get morning sickness with Hannah, probably means it's a boy," Aelita said before she flushed and stepped over to the sink to rinse her mouth.

After a rough morning, Aelita went to the studio to record tracks. The building held many recording studios, and after the tour Richard bought her own outright. The secretary at the studio nervously looked at Aelita as she walked in, and stood up to tell her something.

"Ms. Stones…"

"Aelita, just Aelita," she responded.

"You have a…guest…in your studio," she said.

"Guest?" Aelita said, shrugging it off, and figuring she'd deal with it when she got there. She noticed several people were talking about something, almost gossiping. She walked just out of ear shot when she heard "I can't believe…"

Aelita dropped her keys as she opened the door, so bent down to grab them as she continue to walk backward into the door to open it. When she snapped upright she nearly dropped them again.

Jeanette Palmer was sitting on her chair with a smile. Jeanette had a pretty face with long black hair and light purple eye shadow. She wore a plaid skirt and a long sleeved dark grey shirt.

"Aelita Stones, you are a difficult person to get a hold of. Your manager literally told me to go fuck myself last week. Don't know what I did to warrant that, he has issues you really should have him address," Jeanette said, Aelita clinching her keys in her hand.

"Who let you in here?" Aelita asked.

"See this smile," Jeanette said, pointing at her exaggerated expression, "It just opens doors," with a cute voice that made Aelita clinch her keys tighter.

"I'd like you to leave," Aelita said.

"I just want to..."

"I wasn't asking," Aelita said, Jeanette almost flinching, "Get out."

"Is this how you treat strangers?" Jeanette asked which made Aelita flinched.

"Excuse me, are you under the impression we've never met?" Aelita asked, and Jeanette looked at her strangely.

"Have we?" Jeanette answered, and Aelita threw her keys across the room, the chain breaking and scattering the individual keys.

"Get the fuck out!" Aelita shouted, Jeanette ducking away and slowly looked back up from behind her arms.

Jeanette was visibly shocked, and now slightly scared, her fear immobilizing her. Jeanette opened her mouth but Aelita started shouting again.

"Get out of my studio!"

Jeanette slowly stepped and got around Aelita who slammed her door behind her.

* * *

Two days later Aelita was eating lunch at her café with the laptop on the table next to her cup she felt someone next to her and looked up. It was Jeanette Palmer again. Aelta slammed her laptop closed, tossed a few bills on the table and quickly started walking away.

"I'm a despicable cunt who owes a lot of people even more apologies," Jeanette said, stopping Aelita in her tracks.

"I think that's the first honest thing I've ever heard you say," Aelita said, Jeanette looking down, nodding at her feet.

"I don't remember what I did to you. I don't remember what I did to a lot of people. You recorded _Forgotten Heart_ with me, didn't you?"

"Before you drove me so insane I let you basically steal my work, and remove my name from it at no challenge, because that might include seeing you again," Aelita said walking over to her and pulling her hair up to reveal a two inch scar, "This is from a microphone you threw at me. That is minor compared to the fear you creating by sending a barrage of strangers at me, under the impression I was their party favor."

"Like I said, I did some horrible shit. If slapping me will get me an hour, I'll…" Jeanette got out before her face recoiled from a firm slap across her face. Jeanette's left ear was ringing as Aelita sat back down at her table, unable to hide the expression of how good it felt to hit her.

"You have an hour."

Jeanette rubbed her face as she sat down across from her, a slight smile.

"I had a pretty decent wakeup call about eight months ago. I overdosed and I went to rehab."

"I heard."

"When my head was finally clear, it was like I blinked and missed ten years of my life. I sincerely didn't remember you, and I understand your reaction now. I hear more stories about myself than I have actual memories. Apparently I was a lesbian when I smoked pot," Jeanette said, releasing a small giggle.

"You were. You'd sneak up behind me and shoot your hands up my shirt to knock my tits out of my bra. You'd do that, or try to nibble my neck or slide your hands into my shorts. I learned to stop wearing skirts around you just to give you an idea."

"Fuck…I was hoping it wasn't that bad."

"That was few and far enough in between to just be annoying, but I was pretty sure you were going to get me raped. What the hell made you think it was okay to send strangers to my room?"

"I was…"

"Not only that, you told them I was so eager. You made them assume it was a done deal, a guaranteed fuck. You have no idea how paranoid that made me."

"I was high, twenty four seven, a lot of dumb stuff made sense to me. But now that I'm clean, I'm realizing the wake of destruction and misery I left behind me, and it scares me how destructive I got."

"Just tell me what you want me to do, so I can say no, and go home," Aelita said and Jeanette sighed, "So you've been to rehab, been deal, you and every other diva bimbo on the planet. I give it two weeks before you're snorting god knows what up your nose, like you'd always do, or smoking whatever just to mellow out the headache.

"You're a performer, this is a performance to sell me on the fact you're different. You're not, and you never will be. Rehab will be a revolving door where your solutions are always easy and no one ever holds you accountable for anything. Fuck you, and leave me alone."

Jeanette quietly sat, unable to speak before she slowly stood up. Before her sleeves went down to her wrists, Aelita saw scars on both of her forearms, before she walked away without a response.

* * *

Aelita left the apartment to go pick up Hannah from Richard the next day. She knocked on the door and opened it a moment later, to see Ricahrd standing in the living room watching the television.

"Hey," Aelita said, closing the door behind her.

"I don't know how I feel about this," Richard said, gesturing toward the screen. Aelita walked into the room and stood next to him, and saw an ambulance from a rescue. The bottom was scrolling a text that made her gasp.

_"Pop Artist Jeanette Palmer survives apparent suicide attempt."_


	16. Forgiveness

Information on Jeanette Palmer was consuming a lot of the news for the next day. According to eye witnesses, she jumped off a bridge and into a river. Emergencies responders fished her out five minutes later, her unconscious and at the brink of hypothermia. Early reports came in as her condition was stable.

Aelita sat alone in her room, staring at her lap. Outside she could hear Ulrich cooking dinner and Hannah asking him a series of questions that made him laugh. Ulrich put Hannah at the table with her plate before going to the bedroom to see Aelita with her eyes still focused down.

"Dinner's ready," Ulrich said, Aelita not responding in any recognizable way, "Aelita."

Aelita raised her eyes to him, Ulrich stepping into the room and crouching in front of her.

"Was it my fault?" Aelita asked.

"Was what?"

"Palmer?" Aelita asked, Ulrich sighing, slowly rubbing the back of his head before he sat down next to her, "Did she do that because of me?"

"She did that, because of her," Ulrich said, and Aelita shook her head.

"I certainly handed her the rope," Aelita said and finally stood up, "Would you mind watching Hannah, I need to go."

"Go where?"

"I don't know, just…I need to think," Aelita said and kissed him before she left after kissing Hannah.

* * *

Aelita stood at the start of the bridge Palmer jumped from. It was a fifty foot fall into some fairly rough water. It looked like it may have been nothing short of a miracle she survived.

At the point where she jumped, traffic was being redirected away from a candlelight vigil of nearly thirty people. Hundreds were outside of the hospital. Seeing the support and kind compassion from her fans enraged Aelita. In many ways she was a sociopath who had it coming to her.

"I could have jumped off that balcony and no one would bat an eyelash. A psychopath like Palmer gets a vigil," Aelita said to herself before approaching the vigil to get a better look at it. Looking over the edge, Aelita realized this was not a cry for help, Palmer's intent was death.

"Why?" A fan asked another from behind Aelita.

"She was never the same when her sister died," the other responded.

"What?" Aelita asked and approached them, "Her sister, Janice?"

"Yeah it was really sad, her sister killed herself nearly a year ago."

Aelita quickly walked away and pulled out her phone to search for her sister. Janice Palmer had killed herself roughly eight months ago, two days later Jeanette overdosed.

Janice had met Aelita years ago during the tour. She was Jeanette's younger sister, who spent a lot of time cleaning her up in the morning and keeping her just sober enough to perform. Aelita searched Jeanette's recent events and everything started when her sister died.

"What the hell happened?"

* * *

Aelita arrived at the hospital were two police officers were ensuring no one attempted to enter Jeanette's floor. Stepping into the waiting room, she looked around and saw a woman she recognized from the tour.

"Arianna Palmer?" Aelita asked, Jeanette's mother looking up at her.

"Just leave my daughter and this family alone."

"I'm not media ma'am. I know Jeanette, I recorded Forgotten Heart with her. I mixed the album," Aelita said.

"Sorry, I've been shooing away vultures all day," Arianna said and sat down again, "You were on the Forgotten Heart tour?"

"Only for the first seven months," Aelita said and sat down across from her, "I quit the tour."

"My daughter does that to people," Arianna said and looked down, "You're the only person who's visited."

"I'd like to see her," Aelita said and her other thought for a moment before she nodded and told the officers to let her through.

Aelita walked toward her room where she was a third police officer who nodded and let her through. Stepping into her room, she saw Jeanette in a bed with an IV in her arms, several bandages, and several bruises all over her arms and face. Jeanette heard someone enter so turned her head, and turned away again.

"You're the last person I thought who'd come," Jeanette said, and looking at her lap.

Aeita walked across the room and grabbed Jeanette's sheet and threw it off her. Snatching her arm, Aelita pulled her sleeve up and saw the scars. They were deep scars from a different attempt.

"What is this?" Aelita asked.

"Number three," Jeanette said, pulling her arm away and covering it again, "What do you care?"

"Suicide is never the…"

"Fuck you, why isn't it? I certainly deserve it."

"What do you think you did to deserve it?" Aelita asked, hoping maybe some reflection on this would make her realize something.

"I killed my sister!" Jeanette screamed, then began to cry hysterically, "You made me realize I did. I did the same thing to her, sending a bunch of guys at her. I think one of those guys raped her, and that's why she killed herself. She tried to tell me, but I was so strung out, I didn't care."

Aelita looked at her as she continued to cry, shivering rocking her entire body as she held the sheet to her face. Jeanette was gasping for air as she hiccuped, before Aelita sat down next to her.

"Any life I touch gets destroyed."

"I tried to kill myself four years ago," Aelita said, catching Jeanette's attention, "I stood on the railing of a balcony, and took the step. I was pulled back in just in time. I grabbed the railing to pull myself back over, but he didn't let me. He grabbed me, pulled me back into the room and held me as I cried. That's how low I got."

"That's because of me, wasn't it?" Jeanette asked.

"No it was me. I should have walked away from that tour a long time before that. I shouldn't have walked out on the love of my life. I shouldn't have left all my friends to pursue a dream that led me to a balcony. I stopped caring about what I shouldn't and should have done awhile ago. I learn what I can from it, and move on."

"How do I move on from this?" Jeanette asked, "My sister is dead because of me. I have an entire industry afraid to work with me, I have tabloids placing bets on my next suicide, what the fuck do I have left?"

"You can't even hear yourself sing anymore, can you?" Aelita asked and Jeanette looked at her with an expression illustrating curiosity at how she knew that, "The music is on mute, nothing makes sense, the reason you live has lost all purpose?"

"This is a pretty shitty pep talk."

"You sound like Alexia Jonston," Aelita said with a smile, Jeanette looking down at her lap.

"_Metamorphosis_ saved my life," Jeanette said, slowly looking up to her, "I didn't accidently overdose after my sister died. When I was in the hospital, I tried to overdose my psych meds. Then my wrists, I tried to hang myself but the sheet ripped. After I was in the hospital for the fifth attempt, my niece and nephew visited me. My sister's kids.

"My niece made me listen to it, and believe me I didn't want to. Me listening to Alexia Jonston is insane. I had already checked out mentally at that point, so what could it hurt? The album starts with low bass, slow tempo, and it's so sad. Then it builds.

"Gradually the tempo climbs, the keys go higher with softer strings and higher woodwinds. It starts so low, where I was. The album sinks down to my level, and carries me with it as it elevates. It brought me up. I wanted nothing more than to record with that mixer, so this is around the time I start badgering you. I didn't even know my manager had been trying for longer."

Aelita looked down and sighed. Just when she thought it might have not been her, it kind of was. She took the one thing Jeanette had left to hope for. That is something Aelita never wanted to do to anyone. Not even Jeanette Palmer.

"This may sound like sympathy, or just pity, but it's not. I'll record with you. Just the one song though."

"It still sounds like pity."

"I don't even want the numbers you were offering, but I have demands," Aelita said, Jeanette nodding, "I want my name returned to the personnel credits for Forgotten Heart. I don't want back pay or restitution, just my name where it belongs. You get my name back, and I'll see you in the studio."

Aelita held her hand out to shake on it, Jeanette looking at her hand for nearly ten seconds before she softly gripped it and shook.


	17. Porcelain Dolls

Richard leaned against the back wall of the studio, watching Aelita at the tables with Jeanette Palmer behind the glass going over a few lines in preparation for another run through the new song. Aelita played back the recording and added a distortion to it. Looking over her shoulder, she flashed him a smile and Richard gave a small wave back.

Watching Aelita record with Jeanette was something he thought he'd never see again. Part of him knew it was guilt over what Jeanette had done, but most of it was Aelita was just a better person.

Aelita said over the mic that they were probably good for the day, and they'd have to work on the second verse tomorrow. Jeanette nodded and stepped out from the recording room, and her and Aelita talked for a few minutes before Aelita grabbed her bag and left with Richard.

"Third day of studio, how does it feel?" Richard asked as they walked to the curb and he hailed a cab. A moment later a cab pulled to the curb and Richard opened the door for her.

"Really weird, hard to explain," Aelita said as she slid in and Richard followed her, shutting the door. Richard told the driver the address and he pulled back into traffic.

"You look like you're going through the motions. Your head is very much in it, but I don't think your heart is this time."

"Jeanette is the reason I lost my heart for music in the first place. I don't feel any obligation to put my heart in it this time. Alexia wants to record again you'll see me in love." Aelita smiled scrolling through her messages.

"How's the baby?" Richard asked, Aelita looking at him, curious because she hadn't told him yet, "You're eating pudding, you don't want to walk, and your boobs are…kind of awesome."

"Month and a half, looking great so far, minus the morning sickness I didn't have with Hannah. Just when I thought I would never experience it. Thanks for being in the studio with me."

"Sorry if I feel like a babysitter…"

"Stop you're not a babysitter. You're my manger, making sure Jeanette doesn't relapse into a psycho."

Richard smiled before the cab pulled up the Aelita's building. They both exited, Richard standing outside of her door as Aelita unlocked it.

"Want to come up and kiss Hannah?" Aelita asked.

"I'll stop by later, I got a thousand emails to reply to, calls, I got to listen to a band in a bar tonight…"

"Alright Mr. Manager, but it sounds more like you should do it now, because Hannah will be long asleep when you can later," Aelita said with a smile, Richard chuckling.

"Good point."

Aelita opened the door to the apartment to see Ulrich on the couch with books, papers and his laptop open. After a few years he figured it was time to upgrade his degree to a masters.

"Hey Ulrich," Richard said as he stepped in, Ulrich looking over his shoulder and waving.

"Hey," Ulrich said, dropping the book on the coffee table and walking to meet Aelita. Kissing her he shook Richard's hand and heard Hannah running in from her room.

"Daddy!" Hannah shouted in joy, jumping at him, Richard hugging her and picking her up.

"Hey sweetie."

"Are you staying for dinner?"

"Wish I could, but I got work. I'll stay for a drink though," Richard said, putting Hannah on the ground who dragged him to her room to show him her drawings.

Aelita looked at Ulrich when it was just them and smiled.

"How's school?"

"Fine, how's Palmer."

"Awkward," Aelita said with a shrugged, and noticed he was trying to say something, "What?"

"I didn't expect Richard, so it can wait until he leaves."

"He's in the other room, what is it?" Aelita asked, Ulrich chuckling and walking over to his bag and grabbing something.

"I know we've never had this conversation, and we're already on our way to having a family of our own. I don't believe it's outdated…"

"Are you proposing?" Aelita asked and Ulrich went silent. After neither spoke for ten seconds Ulrich looked away.

"I was, yes."

"You were? Like you're not anymore?"

"Why do you feel the need to ruin this for me?" Ulrich said with a chuckle, Aelita giggling.

"Sorry go ahead."

"Will you marry me?" Ulrich asked, opening the box and showing her the ring. Aelita smiled and nodded.

"Of course," Aelita said, kissing him while he slid the ring on her finger. Richard was stepping out and smiled at them.

"Congratulations."

* * *

Richard sat at the bar, waiting for the band he was thinking about offering his representation to. He ordered a beer and honestly wasn't thinking about the band he was there to listen to. All he had on his mind was Aelita and the ring on her finger. Then he thought about what Aelita had told him.

_'That kind of thinking is exactly why you're right.'_

* * *

_**Six years Ago**_

Richard sat with Sophie, his old boss as Aelita exited the stage to thunderous applause. The set was impressive, and she definitely had a way with an audience. They had agreed to listen to her and talk afterwards, but she walked right passed the table, asking them to wait a moment. Without missing a beat, she walked straight to the bar and had a few shots already lined up for her.

Sophie shook her head as she watched Aelita slam down three shots and take a beer with her to the table.

"Sorry about that, I was losing my buzz," Aelita said and Sophie groaned, "What?"

"You're fucking kidding me, right?" Sophie asked and Aelita looked at her confused, "I came here, because I remembered you. You won that contest, and I have to admit I was curious to see how your style has formed since. This is a professional meeting, and you feel it's appropriate to get drunk during it?"

"If you think three shots and this," Aelita said, holding up the glass, "Is getting me hammered, you don't know me very well."

"And I never will, good luck Aelita," Sophie said and started to walk away. Richard jumped from his seat to stop her from leaving.

"Sophie we're here to judge if her music will sell," Richard said and Sophie stopped at the exit.

"It's about the image. A moderately talented deejay with a drinking problem is certainly not original in this day and age. I'm passing."

"Did you see how the audience reacted? She's got the it factor."

"It?"

"I don't understand what it is, but she has it. Passing her up is a mistake. Just talk for a minute," Richard said, Sophie pinching the bridge of her nose and exhaling.

"No, she's a dime a dozen. I've been in this game for two decades kid, I know when it's there, and when it isn't," Sophie said and smiled at him, "You're adorable, but you can't pick up every stray artist. I'm going to go, see you in the office tomorrow."

Richard sighed into palms as he watched his boss leave. Rubbing the back of his head, he turned to Aelita who was at the table still. He walked back and sat across from her, Aelita smiling.

"I'd take it that went well?" Aelita asked and Richard shrugged, "It's no?"

"It was hell no," Richard said to her, then extended his hand to her, "Richard."

"Aelita," she said, shaking his hand and taking a drink from her beer, "Why are you still here then?"

"I disagree with my boss. I like you…your music," Richard said quickly to recover, Aelita giggling.

"Thank you, but looks like I'm looking for an agent elsewhere. Until then, have a drink with me."

Richard and Aelita closed the bar. They went back and forth for hours about their favorite bands and musicians. Somehow the reoccurring theme was that Sophie knew how to manage but had no ear for talent.

"It took her three shows to sign the Subdigitals to our firm. She passed on Jeanette Palmer who is the biggest pop star in Europe now. Ever heard of a band called Porcelain Dolls?" Richard asked, half drunk but completely absorbed into the conversation.

"Are you stalking me? No one else in the world knows that band exists," Aelita said with a huge smile, absolutely in love with the female band that played in creepy doll masks.

"I heard them in Paris last month when they opened for Dante Went To Heaven. Holy shit, they were amazing. They're creepy, and hot, and just weird and unique like music just isn't anymore. Sophie said they were too weird."

"Wait...you could have signed Porcelain Dolls and you walked away? The only band in the world that makes me question my heterosexuality?"

"Not me, my boss. I hate having to walk away because of someone who's been doing it for so long she's putting music in a box and refusing to listen outside of it. Once she gets talent she can manage the hell out of it, but she's deaf."

Aelita smiled at him and finished her drink, then looked around the bar and saw no one was there but them. She looked over at the bartender and saw he was pointing at the clock. They both ordered a shot and slammed them down before walking out of the bar together where Richard lit a cigarette as he stepped to the curb. He took one drag, but before he could exhale Aelita took the cigarette from his lips and place it on hers. He released a single chuckle and pulled another out.

"I only smoke when I drink," Aelita said, Richard chuckling again, "I'm working on drinking."

"You're something else," Richard said with grin, Aelita perking up her shoulders and squeaking, "A little ball of fire."

"If this is flirting, you're pretty good at it," Aelita said, Richard now aware he was flirting.

"You know what, screw my boss, I'll represent you," Richard said. Aelita giggled and inhaled the cigarette.

"No offense skip, but I need an agent, not a coffee boy. I need…"Aelita unaware she was slowly falling backwards. Richards noticed and grabbed her collar as she tipped, then pulled her back to him, "..thank you. I need real management. God knows me and my bad habits need it."

"I'm not a coffee boy. I'm her assistant. Meaning we have the same job, but I help her do it. I'm better than her at it too. I've negotiated salaries for my firm, contracts, I've fixed PR fuck ups. I know how to manage talent. I also wouldn't pass on talent as certifiably sexy as Porcelain Dolls. I can manage you."

"I'm a ball of fire remember, you can't manage this," Aelita said with a grin, looking in his eyes.

"Maybe I'm not afraid of getting burned," Richard said, making her grin grow wider, "I want to do this."

"Won't your boss fire you?"

"Probably, but fuck her," Richard replied and Aelita started laughing, "What?"

"All I heard was butt fuck?" Richard laughed as well, them both laughing so hard they lost balance. They caught each other and smiled.

"You gonna kiss me or what?" Aelita asked, Richard blushing and stepping away. Aelita pulled him and back and kissed him slowly, draping an arm over his shoulder. When they separated she smiled and said, "I'm just around the corner."

"I'm your manager now. Besides I'm too much of a dork for you anyway," Richard said, heart racing and in panic.

"You had me on the ropes, shame" Aelita said and took his hand. Pulling out a pen from her bag, she wrote her number on his palm and looked back at him, "Call me when you're ready to negotiate, or, whatever."

Richard watched her walk away, and leave down the road. Richard looked at his palm and smiled, then realized he should have offered to walk her, but still didn't jog after her.

The next morning he quit and called Aelita. They met for coffee and negotiated his commission and talked for several hours and several drinks. Aelita dropped several hints he deflected or was too nervous to act on, leaving them both in a state of disappointment.


	18. Sorry

Richard's band took the stage and he immediately knew it wasn't happening. Their reputation around the town was formed mostly due to a sea of tween girls liking how cute they were, not their music.

Finishing his beer, Richard tossed a few bills on the bar and stepped out as the garbage sound was spilling out from the front of the bar. Checking his phone for emails he saw one from Palmers agent and read it. It was about an offer to record for a full EP, which he was tempted to reply with '_Fuck you_' but went with the far more professional, _'I need to ask my client_.'

Walking through the street his phone vibrated again, and it was an email being sent out for Aelita and Ulrich's engagement party. Richard said he'd attend and put his phone back in his pocket.

Arriving at his apartment he sat at his desk, opened his email and saw a few dozen unread messages. One client was up for a contract renewal, another wanted to renegotiate for something that was unreasonable, and he had a several dozen job offers for Aelita. He never imagined Aelita would break out this way.

He never imagined she could be broken.

* * *

_**Four Years Ago**_

Richard was still jet lagged from the flight from New York. Taking a direct flight to Austin then to Dallas had left him exhausted, but he wanted to check on Aelita before he went to sleep. When he spoke to her on the phone a few days ago, something seemed off. He knew the tour was exhausting and Jeanette had the reputation of a slave driver, but Aelita kept ensuring him she could handle it.

When Richard called a few days ago, she was nearly hysterical. Then she was calm. Then she wasn't answering. Getting off at her floor he went to her room and knocked, seeing the door pushed open when he did.

"Aelita?" Richard half shouted, not wanting to walk in on her changing or whatever she was doing. After a moment he pushed the door the open and stepped in.

"Hello?" Richard asked, now wondering If he was even in the correct room. He stepped passed the mini fridge and microwave and stood next to the bed. Turning he saw no one in the bathroom and turned again to see Aelita on the railing of the balcony.

"What the fuck are you doing!" Richard shouted and ran toward her. Aelita stepped off and started to fall before Richard grabbed her arm and caught her.

Richard slid into the railing, Aeltia dangling twenty six stories above the ground. Richard grunted as he tried to find traction to start dragging her back up.

"Let go!" Aelita shouted at him, beginning to grab his hands.

"Stop Aelita, god dammit stop!"

After a moment of struggle he began to pull her up, Aelita's body being pulled over the railing fifteen seconds later. Richard fell back with her, Aelita struggling to get back to the railing but Richard gripping her tighter.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Richard said, Aelita suddenly pressing her face into his chest and squeezing him tight. She began to scream and hysterically cry, Richard having no idea what to do.

"What the hell Aelita?"

"I can't do it anymore, just let me go," Aelita said, Richard gripping her and stroking her hair.

"This tour is over, we're going home tomorrow," Richard said and Aelita continued to cry.

"I don't have a home. I don't have anyone anymore," Aelita said and Richard pushed her away to see her face.

"You have me," Richard said, Aelita face smeared in tears, her eyes red and puffy, her chin trembling, "I'm not going anywhere."

Richard pulled her in again, but felt her pull her head away and look up at him. Leaning up she kissed him softly, Richard not reacting as she continued to kiss him.

"Aelita don't, you're…" his words interrupted by her lips. Aelita adjusted herself, straddling him with her hands on his face. A moment later they went to his shirt that she started to unbutton.

"We can't…" Again he was interrupted, this time by her tongue. Soon she was sliding his shirt of his shoulders, and then removing her own.

"You don't want to…" He was interrupted by the sound of his zipper.

"Stop being so fucking nice," Aelita said, making Richard lean back and look at her, "I don't need a nice guy right now."

Richard submitted, picking her up and falling with her onto the bed.

Richard woke up before Aelita did, and just looked at her as she slept next to him. As much as everything told him this was wrong, and he took advantage, it didn't feel wrong. Nothing about it did.

When Aelita woke up, she seemed embarrassed, or regretful that it happened. In the end, she just kind of shrugged it off and reduced it to the word 'awkward'.

"It was awkward, wasn't it?" Aelita said, stepping out of the bathroom fully dressed, too shy to change in front of him. After a moment he nodded.

"A little bit, yeah. Just a mistake."

* * *

Three weeks later Richard met her at her apartment. He had been keeping a close eye on her, stopping by her place every other day, and calling her every day. She hadn't been to the studio once since they got back, and he didn't blame her.

Knocking on her door she answered almost immediately, Aelita grabbing his hand and pulling him in. The apartment was engulfed with music which was something he didn't expect. This was not the mood he was used to seeing her in.

"What's going on here?" Richard asked, smiling and slightly amused.

"I just had a surge of inspiration," Aelita said with a skip as she went back to her laptop and turned down the volume, "Not what I expected to feel, but it was infectious. The emotion just rolled over me like a wave, and I can't stop giggling."

"You're so…happy and alive. What's different?"

Aelita smiled and skipped over to him. She grabbed his hand and pressed it to her stomach. Richard looked down at her hand on his then back to her eyes.

"I'm pregnant."

Richard felt his stomach sink and his mouth go dry. He tried to react, but wasn't sure which reaction she was looking for.

"I just told you we're having a baby, I'd like some reaction."

"Sorry, that's…wow."

"The first thing you say is sorry," Aelita said, letting his hand go and stepping away.

"Sorry…I mean…wow I'm fucking this up."

"If you want out just tell me," Aelita said, leaning against her counter and frowning at him.

"Whoa what? No Aelita, I'm not that guy. I'm guy who has no idea how to react on the spot. That's a bomb, you wrap it in joy and giggles, but it's a bomb. We are going to do this, together."

Aelita smiled at him and placed her head on his chest.

"Let's start over."

"Okay, hi, I'm Aelita," she said, stepping back and extending her hand out to him.

"Too far back, just to me knocking on the door," Richard said, stepping outside and closing it. He knocked, Aelita laughing and telling him to come in.

"How's it going?"

"I'm pregnant!" Aelita said, in fake jubilee.

"Oh shit, sorry." Aelita laughing and punching him in the chest.

"Fuck you."

* * *

Richard finished the emails at roughly one in the morning. It was a good thing Aelita made him kiss Hannah earlier. Scrolling through her new job offers he saw a familiar night club from Stockholm. The one that stiffed them pay and breached contract.

* * *

Aelita and Richard had arrived back at her apartment, Aelita rolling in her suitcase and quickly moving to the bathroom as she took her coat off.

"We should sue them," Aelita said as she closed the door. Richard took his coat off and placed it on the chair with a sigh.

"What's the point, we'd be suing for restitution over a few thousand. We'd spend more than that on a lawyer. They got money for attorneys, and they'll bleed us dry with appeals and we can't afford to keep a lawyer for that long. We just take the hit."

"Fine, but it's bullshit," Aelita sat on slowly sat on the couch. Richard sat on the arm rest next to her and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Need anything?"

"Did I look like a cow on stage?" Aelita asked. She was five months pregnant with a half formed belly, and Richard smiled.

"You looked cute," Richard said, Aelita smiling up at him, "Need anything before I leave?"

"I'm good for now, just pissed off those bastards robbed us," Aelita said and reached for the remote but couldn't reach it, "God damn it." Richard got it for her and Aelita groaned.

"I'm a useless whale, my feet are killing me, I'm bitchy and I can't even reach my remote," Aelita said in frustration, Richard walking around and sitting next to her.

"Anything else?" Ricahrd asked and Aelita sighed.

"I'm horny," Aelita said, looking sideways at him, Richard blushing and unable to speak, "You asked." Richard awkwardly laughed and looked away.

"I need a release Richard. I got months of built up tension I need relieved," Aelita said, Richard looking back and now fully aware she wasn't joking.

"It was awkward enough the first time," Richard said.

"Not like you can get me extra pregnant," Aelita said and smiled before leaning over and kissing him, "Please?"

Richard woke up first again, the sun bleeding in through the blinds as he sat up and looked over at Aelita. She was curled in a warm ball, nestled next to his side, wrapped in a sheet with her pink hair over her face. Richard smiled as he slid out of the bed, pulling the blanket back up to her shoulders and kissing her forehead.

He cooked breakfast and brought it to her, the smell waking her up as he walked in. She sat up and ate with him, laughing about last night.

"It's not awkward to say I needed that," Aelita said eating some toast and smiling, "What are we exactly?"

"I've been trying to figure that out since the bar in Berlin."


	19. Engagement Party

Aelita and Ulrich rented out a space to have their engagement party and sent out the invitations. Jeremie and Odd couldn't make it, but promised they'd be at the wedding. Yumi and William came out, Yumi just entering her third trimester and Aelita couldn't help but grab her belly the moment she saw her.

"You're so big," Aelita said, Yumi laughing and trying to hug her.

"There are two in there," Yumi said with a smile as Alexia came in a moment later with Donald. Yumi was a fan and somehow managed to hide how star struck she still was, even though this wasn't the first time they met.

"Lexi, you remember Yumi, my best friend," Aelita said, the two shaking hands and smiling.

"So great to see you again," Alexia said then looking at her belly and smiling wider, "How much longer?"

"Just entered third trimester," Yumi answered.

William and Ulrich sat at the bar and drank together, laughing at how everything turned out in the end. The long fight over a girl, followed by them being the only members of the group who remained in consistent contact with each other over the years, now enjoying a beer with both their fiancées pregnant.

"How come I'm only hearing that you guys are engaged now?" Ulrich asked.

"We were going to make an announcement, then we got the email about you guys and didn't want to make it seem like we were trying to over shadow your moment. You guys are planning on getting married pretty soon so we figured we'd wait to announce it later."

"Probably a good idea considering they just started talking to each other again," Ulrich said, William laughing and finishing his drink.

"What do you recommend here?" They heard a voice ask, them both turning toward it. Yvonne was standing in front of them in jeans and a blouse, placing her purse on the bar and taking a seat next to Ulrich.

"Hey Yvonne…William, this is Yvonne, one of my patients."

"I'm William, his arch nemesis, formerly at least," he said, reaching passed Ulrich and shaking her hand.

"Yvonne, former cripple," she responded.

"Doesn't this constitute doctor patient…whatever?" William asked.

"Social gathering is not the same as a date," Ulrich said and William noticed Yvonne reacted with disappointment. William wasn't sure if it was nice to invite her, or just cruel.

An hour into the night Richard stood on the stage of the bar with a microphone stand and tapped it several times. The speaker boomed several times, making the room look toward the stage.

"Hey, everyone…as we all know we're here to celebrate the engagement of Ulrich and Aelita. I've known Aelita for going on seven years now, and I'm so…happy that she's found someone who truly understands her. I've known about Ulrich longer than I've known him and when I finally got to meet him, I understand why she kept talking about him.

"I've had the last year to see them together, and I hope I never have to see them apart. To Aelita and Ulrich."

Richard raised his glass and the room joined him, Richard looking at Aelita smiling at him. Yumi said a few words with William afterwards, Richard's taking that moment to step out of the bar and check his emails. Hearing the door open behind him he heard William say, "Hard to imagine how good of friends we are now.."then it go quiet as the door shut. He turned and saw a short haired women light a cigarette next to him.

"Nice speech," she said, Richard turning to her, "Yvonne, Ulrich is my physical therapist."

"Oh, hey, Richard, Aelita's manager," Richard said, them shaking hands and Richard looking at his phone again.

"I'd go up there and say some stuff to, but I haven't known them long enough. If I did, I'd probably sound like you," Yvonne said, Richard turned again, asking what he sounded like with only his eye brows, "Full of shit."

"Beg your pardon?"

"I have a crush, you're flat out in love with her," Yvonne replied, ashing her cigarette and smiling, "How long?"

Richard just looked at her, not sure what to say. A moment later he knew he couldn't deny it, so chuckled a little.

"Pretty much day one," Richard answered.

"She ever give you a real chance?"

"More than once."

"Why not leave, do yourself a favor and get passed it," Yvonne said, Richard smiling.

"One of those chances she gave me led to a daughter, so I can't just walk away," Richard said, Yvonne eyes expressing shock, then relaxed as if everything just clicked.

"You're Hannah's dad?" Yvonne asked, him nodding. Yvonne tried to say something but wasn't sure what to say anymore. After a minute she finally said, "Drink?"

* * *

Together Yvonne and Richard closed the bar, the staff stacking chairs as they were allowed to sit and talk even after closing. Richard was friendly with the owner and this wasn't the first time he had done this. He usually did this with Aelita when they'd call Richard's parents to watch Hannah so they could just get a night off.

"I know I have no right to bitch," Richard said, placing his beer on the bar and laughing a little.

"I have a bad habit of liking men who are unavailable. I love what I can't have. Always the side act, never the main girl. That didn't used to bother me, stealing boyfriends and being a home wrecker was thrilling. Getting caught was just fun. I was texting my next fling when I ran a red and got side swiped. I slid off a bridge, woke up in the hospital a week later."

"Ever feel like it was penance?"

"Not at first. Until no one visited me. I had no friends, because I stole their boyfriends. I had no boyfriends, because they couldn't acknowledge me. My family only calls to remind me that I'm not married. I sat in a bed alone for nearly six months. Made me wonder how crowded my funeral would be.

"Physical therapy started and I met Ulrich. It would be weird if even you didn't have a small crush on him," Yvonne said, Richard laughing, "As much as you could when he's the guy banging the mother of your daughter."

"I try not to think about that," Richard said, still laughing for some reason.

"Does it make you feel a little better knowing she's in good hands?" Yvonne asked, and Richard actually thought about it for a second, "I'm sure she's had worse boyfriends."

"She doesn't know I kicked the shit out of one of them," Richard said, Yvonne nearly spitting her drink.

"Really?"

"Adam was the last boyfriend she had before we had Hannah. Found out he was cheating on her, so I had a firm talk with him," Richard said with a shrug, Yvonne sizing up Richard and not seeing a fighter. Then she flashed him a doubting look, "Don't start."

"Like you said, you can't bitch," Yvonne said and smiled. Richard smiled back and looked down and away, suddenly feeling nervous, "But I see you for who you are, the first nice guy I've met who wasn't taken already."

"I'm too much of…."Richard started to say, then suddenly remembered Aelita._ 'That kind of thinking is exactly why you're right.'_

"Too much what?"

Richard chuckled a little, then swallowed his nervousness and faced her again.

"Want to get some coffee tomorrow?" Richard asked.

"I was leaning more towards sex tonight, but coffee works."


	20. Going It Alone

Richard woke up first as always. Sitting up in his bed he looked to his right and saw Yvonne curled up next to him. At the foot of the bed were their clothes, strewn about haphazardly forming a trail to the door. Smiling he quietly pulled himself away to make breakfast, his door knocking just as he pulled his pants to his waist.

Looking at Yvonne who seemed to curl her face away from the noise, Richard stepped out of his room, leaving the door ajar. Walking across the living room he opened the door, only for the knocker to step passed him into the apartment.

"Well I expected more for the manager of the most sought after artist in Europe," a woman said as she looked around his home. Looking back at him she waited for a response. She was an older woman, but not old, with black hair and formal business attire.

"What are you doing here Sophie?" Richard asked as he closed his door and walked to the kitchen to make coffee, "Coffee?"

"Instant, no thanks," She said and continued to look around, "You guys had to have made some bank on that Jonston tour. What did you piss it away on, or did you get ripped off from the third highest grossing concert last year?"

"We bought Aelita a studio, and the rest is in my daughter's trust," Richard said, Sophie noticing a few toys around, then peeked into her open bedroom.

"Since when do you have a kid?" Sophie asked and walked to his counter and leaned against it, "Awfully nice of her to give you the money."

"It's her daughter too," Richard said and Sophie shook her head and laughed.

"Wow. When you ran back into that club six years ago, wow."

"That club where you passed on the most talented deejay in the world right now," Richard said and Sophie smiled, "What do you want?"

"I'm here to offer you your old job back. My old job actually. A raise, your own office.."

"And the company get's to poach my clients. You don't care about me, you want Aelita."

"So what if I do. You're good kid, a hell of a lot better than I thought you'd be on your own. On company management, she can get recording deals with anyone under our umbrella. We can get her in with Maxwell Sharp, Dante Went To Heaven, and this band all the kids like today called Porcelain Dolls."

"Two of those you passed up while I worked for you. Am I getting my job back, or saving yours?" Richard asked.

"Your job would be our primary talent scout," Sophie explained and Richard poured his cup of coffee and thought about that. All of the financial security from a normal paycheck, and what annoyed him about his job before completely resolved.

Richard's bedroom opened, both turning to see Yvonne poking her head out and smiling.

"Hey," Yvonne said and walked to the kitchen.

"Coffee?"

"I'd love to, but I have class," Yvonne said and gave an awkward smile to Sophie.

"This is my old boss Sophie. Sophie, this is Yvonne…"Richard said, completely unaware of how to describe the relationship beyond 'girl I just had sex with'.

"I gotta go, but call me," Yvonne said kissing him before she left.

"Does your girlfriend know about your girlfriend?" Sophie asked.

"Aelita isn't…" Richard said in frustration, calming himself down, "I have work to do today."

"Which mega deal are you closing?" Sophie asked sarcastically.

"Aelita is recording part of an EP with Jeanette Palmer," Richard said and Sophie was actually impressed.

"Palmer, right after Jonston, nice."

"I have work," Richard said as he opened his door and gestured for her to leave.

Sophie opened her purse as she walked toward the door, pulling out her card as she did.

"You probably remember the number, but just in case. Sleep on it, we're not interviewing people, they really only have you in mind, with or without your girlfriend. Just do me a favor, and think with your head for a change," Sophie said as she stepped out, "And not your dick."

"Bye," Richard said and shut the door.

* * *

Aelita sat next to Richard in the cab as they drove to her apartment after the last day of recording with Palmer. Richard noticed she was being unusually quiet.

"What's up?" Richard asked.

"Palmer offered a contract extension, two more songs, and I might say yes," Aelita said, unsure if she should and even concerned she was humoring the offer.

"Going around the manager, dick move but I like it."

"Don't act like you weren't asked," Aelita said with a grin, "Her manager asked you, and you've been putting off telling me."

"I wanted to keep your head clear until this song was done," Richard said and Aelita admitted that was probably a good idea.

"Speaking of keeping heads clear, what's up with yours?" Aelita asked, stepping out of the cab first, closing the door after he exited.

"I got a job offer, and I'm like you right now. I'm considering it," Richard said as Aelita opened the door to the building with her key.

"Who is poaching my manager?" Aelita asked with a giggle.

"Sophie wants me to have her old job as talent scout, and you'd get absorbed into their client base," Richard responded and Aelita stopped at the stairs, "I'd still be your manager."

"No Richard. You can take the job, but don't even pretend you'd still be my manager. They'd throw me under some guy who knows nothing about me and shoves me at whoever is paying the most. Jeanette Palmer was paying the most."

"Maybe I need to go, for me," Richard said and Aelita had no idea how to respond, "You know why I've always treated you the way I do. I know I waited too long, and I blew every chance you gave me. I know it was me. Doesn't mean I have to sit there and watch you have babies and get married to another man."

"What about Hannah?"

"I'm not going anywhere that I can't be with my daughter. But maybe she needs to see us more apart because she doesn't know we aren't together."

"What, I thought we've already…" Aelita said and Richard slowly shook his head.

"Ulrich is doing the best he can, but you need to talk to him. Last week when he picked her up for you, she shouted that she didn't have to listen to him because he wasn't her real dad. She thinks your baby is mine."

"What?"

"She asked me what we were going to name the baby. I said that's between you guys, and she said she didn't understand why Ulrich was naming it. We all need to have a serious talk with her. She's said some really mean things to Ulrich, and he's just taking it, as if even he's unsure where his line is."

"What have you done to stop it?" Aelita asked.

"I tell her, but it doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Maybe with a little less of me Ulrich can establish he is a parent to her."

Aelita sighed and leaned against the wall.

"Thanks for telling me," Aelita said and smiled, "If you want the job, take it. I'll figure it out on my end."

Richard nodded and after a few more words he left and Aelita finished going up the stairs entering the apartment she saw Ulrich at the table eating alone and Hannah's room closed.

"What's going on?"

"We need to talk."

* * *

Ulrich told Aelita everything about how Hannah had been behaving as of recent. Hannah for over the last year had treated Ulrich like a really fun uncle, and she had never disrespected or disregarded what he told her to do. That had changed, and fast. It was as if she finally realized the relationship he had with her mother.

A few days ago just like Richard said, Ulrich told her to get her backpack and her shoes, and she said she wanted to play at Richard's more. When Ulrich repeated it, she shouted at him, telling him she didn't have to listen to him, because he wasn't her dad.

"What did you say?" Aelita asked and Ulrich shrugged.

"I didn't know what to say," Ulrich said and Aelita stood up off the chair and walked to her door. Aelita opened it, seeing Hannah sitting on her bed, with a grumpy face. Her eyes trailed up to Aelita and she lit up.

"Mommy," Hannah said and stood up and ran over to her.

"What did you say to Ulrich sweetie?" Aelita said and Hannah looked away.

"Nothing."

"You're father told me something different, so don't lie to me again," Aelita said and Hannah looked up at her.

"I don't have to listen to him."

"Yes you do. Pretty soon, Ulrich is going to be your step father…"

"I don't want another daddy."

"Do not interrupt me," Aeltia said and Hannah went silent, "Not too long after that, I'm having a baby. That baby boy or girl, will need their big sister."

"And their daddy."

"You're right, they will. Ulrich is the daddy."

"No, daddy is."

"I'm marrying Ulrich, because I love him," Aelita said and Hannah frowned at her.

"Why don't you love daddy? Why don't you marry him instead?" Hannah asked, with a more angry tone that Aelita moved to crush immediately.

"Because I don't love your dad," Aelita said and realized the moment she said it, a three year old would take that completely out of context. Tears began to swell in her eyes immediately and Hannah ran for her bed and put her face in her pillow.

"Why don't you love daddy!?" Hannah screamed into her pillow.

"Because daddy's an idiot," Richard said from the doorway. Aelita turned and saw him, surprised he decide to come up. Hannah heard Richard and jumped off her bed and soaked his shirt in her tears.

"Why can't you be together!? I don't like Ulrich! I hate him! He's the reason.."

"Stop that right now Hannah," Richard said sternly and placed her on the ground, "Ulrich is the reason mommy is the happiest she's ever been. You know what, I didn't have the courage to give that to her. Mommy gave me every chance in the world to make her happy. This is my fault, not mommy's, not yours, and not Ulrich's. This is my fault."

Hannah's tears kept streaming as she started to breath again, her looking straight down. Richard pulled her chin up with her finger and sat down in front of her, bring their heads equal.

"Mommy is going to marry Ulrich. You're going to have a baby brother or sister, and maybe more after that. I'm not going anywhere, and I never will. You do not need to feel like Ulrich is replacing me. He isn't, and he isn't trying to. You're mommy and I both love you, and so does Ulrich."

Hannah hugged her father tightly and he hugged her back, and without being told to do so she walked out of her room and stopped in front of Ulrich. Ulrich looked down at her and she looked back up at him.

"I'm sorry," Hannah said and started to cry, "I don't hate you. I didn't mean any of it. Do you hate me?"

"I could never hate you Hannah, and thank you for telling me. I forgive you," Ulrich said and hugged her. Richard heard Aelita make a noise and turned to see her crying to. Richard snickered and Aelita shoved him.

"Fuck off, it's the most adorable thing I've ever seen. Could you teach me how to parent when you got time?" Aelita asked and Richard shoved her back, "What about not wanting to watch me be with another man?"

"Doesn't mean I have to sabotage it," Richard said and turned to Ulrich and Hannah, Aelita turning as well.

"We didn't even have to tell her to. She did it on her own," Aelita said and Richard smiled.

"She knows she was wrong. She's lashing out at him because she thinks he stole you from me. Once she knows he didn't, she couldn't help but feel like she owed him an apology."

"I made that worse before you got here."

"Let's make it right then," Richard said and walked into the kitchen and sat at the table. Aelita sat down, Hannah climbing into her lap. For the rest of the night they treated Hannah like a grown up, and didn't patronize her. Hannah truly seemed to grasp what they told her, and Aelita had never been prouder.

* * *

Aelita talked to Richard in the hallway after he left the apartment, and he seemed to have made his decision.

"I'm taking the job," Richard said and Aelita sadly nodded.

"You mean it then, huh?"

"We need some distance. We've always had a very unorthodox professional relationship, which is to say we've never really had one. You've been my friend since that first night, and I've never looked back," Richard said and Aelita smiled at him.

"I know I haven't been the easiest person to manage, and it really does mean the world that you stayed with me through it all. You were ninety percent of our success, and I know I took that for granted."

"Are you sure you don't want to come too? You'll have a lot of people to record with. I can write your contract with them, put it in writing you they can't force you to work with people you don't want to," Richard explained and Aelita shook her head.

"You know I wouldn't last a year there. I need something more flexible. I'll go it alone for a while, see how I do," Richard extended his hand out to her and she laughed, "A handshake. I had your baby, the least you can do is hug me."

Richard hugged Aelita tightly, Aelita kissing his cheek before he turned around and walked away.


	21. Understanding

Having to handle all of the emails, the scheduling, the cost negotiation, the contract if it applied and the calls was much more difficult than Aelita ever imagined. It was only after he left that she realized how much Richard actually did. It was impossible for her to imagine he once did this for ten different clients at the same time.

Aelita ultimately decided against the Palmer contract renewal, not in the mood for any added stress at the moment. She already had enough stress with going to Germany to meet Ulrich's parents. This was visit of convenience, as she booked a week long series of shows that would finish in Berlin, where they would visit the Sterns.

Aelita finished the first show and went back to the hotel where Ulrich rubbed her shoulders as they talked and got ready for bed.

"We're already engaged and pregnant, together for going on three years if you add the first part, and I'm now just meeting your parents," Aelita said as he worked his thumb into her muscle.

"We're always busy," Ulrich said as an explanation.

"Do they know you're going to be a step dad?" Aelita asked and he nodded and kissed her shoulder, then neck.

"They know, my dad is surprisingly cool with it," Ulrich said and nibbled her earlobe, "Maybe we should have brought Hannah."

"If we were just doing your parents, then sure. But we're not. I have eight shows in five nights. I haven't worked like that since before Hannah. Besides, she needs to know her dad isn't going anywhere. She needs Richard time."

Ulrich kept kissing her neck and nibbling, making her giggle and turn her head.

"Hotel sex?"

"Oh yeah."

* * *

After the last show Aelita was so tired she didn't even have the energy for hotel sex. She slept soundly for the half of the next day before they finished their trip, arriving at his parents doorstep. The door opened before he knocked, Ulrich hugging his mother, and then her hugging Aelita.

"I can't believe it's taken this long to meet you," Mrs. Stern said, inviting them in and taking their coats.

"I know, I'm sorry. I can't always get away," Aelita answered and Mrs. Stern smiled.

"I was hoping Hannah would come too."

"I don't like dragging her around when I tour like this. She gets so exhausted and I barely see her when I do, cause I'm either rehearsing, playing, or sleeping. Plus she's having a rough adjustment, she thinks because I'm marrying Ulrich…"

"Her dad is leaving?"

"Exactly, so she needs her dad right now."

Ulrich's father walked in from the kitchen, shaking his hand and hugging Aelita, which surprised them both. His dad didn't even hug Yumi when he met her.

"It's so great to finally see you. Where's Hannah?"

"With her dad, the schedule would have been pretty rough on her," Aelita said, his dad smiling and nodding in understanding.

"We'll have to visit you next then."

They sat for dinner and Ulrich's parents danced around the pregnancy until Ulrich placed his fork down and looked at both of them.

"Just ask," Ulrich asked and his mom turned to him.

"Ask what?"

"Fine I'll just answer. The pregnancy is planned and we're not getting married because of it," Ulrich said and his dad laughed, "What?"

"Ulrich, I don't care. You couldn't be engaged and I'd be treating this the same. You could not get married, and I wouldn't treat my grandchild any different."

Ulrich looked at his dad and couldn't help but smile. Taking a drink Ulrich wondered what had changed in him. There had to be a reason his father was acting so nice. Lucky for Ulrich, his dad read his mind.

"You're not a lost child anymore, you're a man who has figured out his affairs. You're going to school, you're working, and you're starting a family. Tell me where I'm supposed to be disappointed or judgemental?"

Aelita looked at Ulrich and smiled, touching his leg under the table.

"What do your parents think Aelita?" His mother asked, and Aelita pulled out an old script and read off it again.

"I'm actually an orphan. I went to Kadic on scholarship. I don't even remember my parents," Aelita said and gave a weak smile.

"I'm sorry, I…" Ulrich's mother started, hesitating under her uncertainty.

"Don't be. Ulrich and the others have always been my family. Just now a little more literal," Aelita said and Ulrich smiled. That one was the truth. "I was lucky."

"Do you know boy or girl yet?"

"I don't want to know. Hannah was a surprise," Aelita said and his mother nodded.

"Will you be taking the name?"

"Half and half. I have a professional image, and a name attached with that. Everything legal and off stage I will be a Stern," Aelita said and grabbed Ulrich's hand, "Never really been too attached to Stones."

"I take it your manager advised that?" His father asked.

"He did yes. Let's just say he's the brains...or he was. We just kind of...never mind not really important."

"You're manager is Hannah's father if my memory serves me right," His mother said and she nodded to confirm, "He's your daughter's father, he's never not going to be important."

"His adjustment was harder than Hannah's," Aelita said and Mrs. Stern wasn't sure what she meant by that, but still didn't ask.

* * *

Ulrich and his dad stepped to the back patio after dinner, his father lighting a cigar and clinking his glass of scotch against Ulrich's. Ulrich lit his own cigar with a match and together they leaned off the balcony and looked toward the city in the distance.

"How far are you in the semester?" Mr. Stern asked and Ulrich took a sip.

"Two months. I'm already fully certified on catastrophic back injury recovery, though my primary specialty is really only muscular redevelopment. Expanding into spin, shoulder, and ligaments allows me to be the primary therapist for a longer duration of the therapy. Right now I get them off a cane, but after I finish I can start therapy at an earlier stage of recovery. I'm also a fully certified physical trainer."

"Sports injuries?"

"Not usually, work related accidents and car crashes are more often my patients. Sports usually are lower extremities and head injuries."

"I see, how many patients do you have now?" His father asked, very curious.

"I have three right now, but if I can get the job at the second hospital, I'll get two more. It's still a part time job, I need hours with patients for my certifications."

"Can you carry that load? I'm not saying you can't, but realistically pace yourself. When that baby comes, that's your priority. I know you're already basically a dad, but when it's yours, it's different."

"When you she told me she was pregnant, even after we had been trying for five months, I was excited. I spent five months expecting to feel dread," Ulrich said with a grin and shook head, "Nothing but excited."

"Your mother and I were living in a one room studio apartment when she told me. We could barely afford to feed ourselves, and yet I was excited too. The world gave me every indicator I shouldn't be. When she told me, I went to my boss and pleaded my case for promotion. I got it, then and there, because life gave me a firm kick in the ass to get me moving. What was your firm kick in the ass?"

Ulrich thought about it and tried to think of what it was. What was his catalyst? After nearly a full minute of thought Ulrich pulled open his phone and found the video of Aelita playing in the club. The same video he used to find her.

"Before I saw this video, I hadn't thought of Aelita for awhile. Seeing her made me wonder what I would say to her if I ever found her again. Seeing her face made me angry. I tracked this club down, and found her a few days later.

"I'm standing across the street when she walks out of the club she just played, and almost immediately we make eye contact. I wanted to scream at her. Just to let her know what I felt when she left. I walked across the street and stood in front of her, and the anger instantly melted. The look she gave me said she already knew. We have a good night, and the next morning she starts pushing me away again.

"Instead of running, I fight. I go with her and I find out she has a kid. I'm scared shitless now. In order to love Aelita, I had to love Hannah too. I knew I had to accept I was not her priority. I needed to accept if I was going to be with Aelita, I needed to be a dad. I didn't realize how true that was until she said she wanted to have a baby. That moment is where the truth became real, and I backed away from it.

"This is when I discovered how good my friends actually are. Instead of taking my side by default, they called me an asshole. I talked to Richard, the man who has every reason to sabotage me, and he tells me everything I needed to know and do. What he said to me, told me he accepted me as an influence over his daughter, and that's when I knew I was ready. I didn't need to stop being scared, I just needed to be ready. My fiance's baby daddy was my firm kick in the ass."

"Is he a good father?"

"He's incredible, no one makes Hannah light up like he does. I hope I'm half as good as he is," Ulrich said, making his father smile.

"You will be just as good, you'll do better than me."

Ulrich looked at his dad and smiled, the first time in his life he seemed to truly understand him. They shared a look, nodded, tapped their glasses, and knew nothing needed else needed to be said.


	22. The Last Kiss

Aelita and Ulrich arrived at Alexia's to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the release of her first single. Amongst the guests were many artist Alexia had met over the years and people from the industry and record label. It was a semi formal, but Aelita still made Ulrich wear a suit and tie which he looked very handsome in, but good luck convincing him he did.

Alexia hugged Aelita as she entered, the first thing she asked was how much longer till the baby.

"Not even second trimester yet," Aelita said and Alexia smiled.

"Do you know who that is?" Alexia asked Aelita, pointing across her living room at a woman with blonde hair brushed neatly and draped over her shoulder. She looked roughly the same age as Aelita with a bright smile and several visible tattoos, one of Pinocchio on her shoulder, with the strings tattooed and disappearing into her black dress.

"Should I?" Aelita asked without even thinking of a good guess.

"That's Cynthia Horcroft." Alexia said and Aelita knew she knew that name, but wasn't sure why.

"Horcroft...That's going to drive me insane," Aeltia said and suddenly it came to her, "Porcelain Dolls Cynthia Horcroft?"

"We did a benefit show a few years ago, been hanging out semi regularly ever since," Alexia said and waved at her, receiving a wave in reply. Then Cynthia saw Aelita and gave her the look Aelita was giving her.

"I've been the biggest Porcelain Dolls fan since their EPs," Aelita said fast and nervously, making Ulrich laugh, "Don't laugh, I might leave a lesbian."

"Rumors say you don't need to pick one or the other with her," Alexia said and Ulrich laughed again.

"Not happening," Aelita said to Ulrich who huffed.

"You can leave a lesbian but I can't at least watch?"

"At least let him watch," Alexia said with a grin.

"Stop encouraging my fiance," Aelita said and turned to see Cynthia was five feet and closing.

"You're Aelita Stones," Cynthia said, looking as star struck as Aelita did.

"I can't even begin to explain, what Porcelain Dolls means to my life…"

"Your life, I've been following you since your gigs in Sweden. You made Jeanette Palmer sound good, that's like, proof of religion level shit."

"I've seen you in Paris, Berlin, Rome...I had been up for twenty nine hours when I found out about your surprise show when I was in Luxemburg. I took adderall and E just to rally and catch the show."

"Wait what?" Ulrich asked.

"I was there when you broke the DeeJay till you drop record in Venice. What was that, fifteen hours?" Cynthia asked, all smiles.

"Seventeen," Aelita said sarcastically like it wasn't a big deal, and looked behind Cynthia and saw Richard.

Cynthia turned around and smiled at him, gesturing him over, and assuming they knew each other.

"Aelita this is Richard, he's our new manager. Take it you've met?" Cynthia asked.

"I managed Aelita for six years," Richard said and hugged Aelita.

"You managed Aelita Stones, and you didn't tell me?"

"You're managing not just mine, but our favorite band and not even a backstage pass. We are so over," Aelita said sarcastically making him laugh at both.

"You were her manager?" Cynthia asked again and they both nodded.

"Not only that," Aelita said and looked at Richard who shrugged, telling her she was free to share, "Richard and I have a daughter."

"You got to bone Aelita Stones?" Cynthia asked, then held her hand up for a high five. Richard look at Ulrich who was dumbfounded the direction this conversation took. Ulrich shrugged awkwardly and stepped toward Alexia.

"I'd like to start drinking now."

"Get me one too, I'm not missing this conversation."

Cynthia saw Ulrich kiss Aelita before he left into the party and connected a few more dots.

"I'm talking about you getting boned by your ex, in front of the current. My bad," Cynthia said and Aelita laughed.

"It's fine, he's a good sport," Aelita said to relieve the tension that just built.

"Half of my posters from my high school bedroom are here," Yvonne said as she appeared behind Richard, "Aelita hey."

"Hey…sorry I forgot."

"Yvonne, Ulrich is my.."

"Physical therapist, I remember now. You two are?" Aelita gesturing between Yvonne and Richard.

"We're feeling it out," Yvonne said with a smile then looked at Cynthia, "You're...the reason I might go lesbian...you know Cynthia Horcroft?" Yvonne asked Richard who nodded.

"Cynthia this is Yvonne." They shook hands.

"What I miss?" Ulrich said and saw Yvonne and was confused.

"Cynthia be flipping bitches," Alexia said to summarize.

"I don't know what that means," Ulrich said and handed her a drink.

"It means you need to pound Aelita straight tonight."

Ulrich stared at Alexia who didn't show an expression of humor to indicate she was joking.

"You have three kids, and you're so clean cut and family friendly in interviews...and you said that."

"You gonna tell her?" Cynthia asked Alexia who suddenly remembered something.

"Oh yeah, since we're all here. Cynthia and I were going to remix one of the Porcelain Dolls old songs, and she wanted to ask you to collaborate on it."

Aelita's heart skipped a beat, her mouth went dry, she felt her knees go weak. It was like Ulrich saying he loved her for the first time.

"I think we broke her," Cynthia said with a grin.

"If you're remixing 'Toy With Me' I might go into early labor."

"Should we call the hospital then?" Alexia asked and Aeltia went numb.

"She's pregnant?" Cynthia asked and Alexia nodded.

"Do you have any idea what the fuck they're talking about?" Yvonne asked Ulrich who shook his head and looked at her and Yvonne saw his question on his face, "I'm here with Richard, we hit it off at your engagement party."

"When do we start?" Aelita asked and they both shrugged.

"We want to hit the studio next month."

"Just keep me in the loop. You're still writing my contracts it looks like," Aelita said and Richard laughed.

"Guess so."

* * *

Once the excitement of meeting her favorite musician was over and the party had settled down, Aelita and Richard talked outside on Alexia's back patio. For how much money she had, Alexia lived fairly modest.

"I guess distance is hard in a community this small," Richard said with a smile that Aelita returned.

"Looks like. You and...don't tell me...Yvonnda?"

"Really? You're adding syllables."

"You guys look cute," Aelita said and he nodded.

"Thanks to you."

"Why me?"

"You know how I tend to back down when I've already convinced a girl?" Richard asked Aelita who laughed and nodded.

"I know all too well."

"I let myself win this time," Richard said, making Aelita smile and softly hit his arm.

"Good for you, you need it. Has Hannah met her yet?"

"Waiting a little for that. Last thing she needs is to think her mom is getting replaced a week after we convinced her, her dad isn't," Richard said, making them both laugh.

"You know this collaboration is going to make heads explode," Richard said and Aeltia nodded.

"My head is still spinning, and I'm part of it," Aelita said with a giant grin.

"Figured you'd be excited. I'll have the lawyers work on the contracts."

"I thought you were getting hired as their talent scout?" Aelita asked.

"I did, but you tell me if you'd pass up managing the Porcelain Dolls?"

"A very fair point," Aelita said with a smile and looked inside at Ulrich talking with Donald and Alexia. Richard looked in as well and saw her face as she looked at him. He'd seen her look at him and her previous boyfriends in a similar way, but Ulrich was different. The others she had an excited, almost antsy look. Ulrich made her look serene and at peace.

"You really do love him don't you?" Richard said, making her turn to him.

"I really do. I always did. The hardest thing I ever did, was leave him. The easiest thing I ever did, was say yes," Aelita said and rubbed her belly, "Yet I don't regret a thing."

"How close did I come?" Richard asked and Aelita shrugged.

"Do you really want to know?" Aelita asked and Richard thought about it, and no answer seemed like it would be good. If he was close, he wasted his chance. If he was far, he wasted his time. Looking into the house and seeing Yvonne talk to Cynthia he smiled and decided he wanted to know which one not to do again.

"I do."

"That first night we would have had sex. That's not something I give away easily. I can still count on one hand how many people I've slept with. For a DeeJay in this industry, I'm a unicorn for that alone," Aelita said, making him laugh.

"At the end of the Palmer tour where you saved me, I wasn't embarrassed. I didn't think it was awkward we slept together. I thought it felt overdue, like I should have been with you the entire time. If you had walked me home from the bar, or told me you didn't think it was awkward, and you treated me the way you always have, I'd have told Ulrich I'm sorry when he found me, and we'd go our separate ways. I'd come home, I'd kiss Hannah, I'd crawl into our bed and curl up under your arm.

"I don't believe that there's one person for every person, but I'll agree it's a small number and too many people never meet even one. I've just been lucky enough to have met two of mine. That's how close you came."

Richard smiled at Aelita with a vaguely sad look in his eyes.

"I love you Richard, I don't mean as your friend, and I don't mean in the 'but I'm not in love with you' kind of cop out. I really do love you. If one thing was different, if you were just a little braver a little sooner…"

"I know," Richard said, hugging her tightly and her hugging him back, "I love you too. I always have. You make me want to be brave," Richard said and looked at Yvonne then back at her, "I regret a few things, but I'm glad I ran back into the bar and shook your hand. No matter how much it may hurt thinking about how close I came, I'll never regret meeting you."

"One for the road?" Aelita asked, Richard seeing her expression and read the meaning on her face. Richard leaned down while Aelita got on her toes, and they kissed one last time, slowly, passionately, their lips parting and immediately both felt cold without the other.

They laughed as they separated, both had tears swelling, and both made the other laugh and cry more by merely looking at the other. They both managed to get their emotions contained, Aelita taking a large breath and exhaling loudly. Richard smiled before he walked away and back into the party with Yvonne, and Aelita went to Ulrich a few minutes later.

Aelita got to record with her favorite musician and fulfil one of her dreams. Two months after that with a half formed belly Richard led her down the aisle.

Aelita didn't have a father, and Richard certainly wasn't filling that role, but it made sense to her. It made sense to have the only other man in the world who loved her as much as Ulrich did, be the one who gave her away.

* * *

_**This concludes Reminisce, deleted scenes within the next few days to next few years knowing me. **_


	23. Deleted Scenes

I wrote this story on request, and I had a lot of fun writing it. It's actually three stories stacked on each other, and I originally meant to publish them as separate stories. The first is obviously Reminisce. The second was titled Nothing To Love. The third and final was titled The Last Kiss.

**Let's start with some of the things I changed or had planned in Reminisce (Chapters 1-8)**

1\. It was originally titled Aelita's Infinite Playlist.

2\. In the original draft, Hannah was Ulrich's daughter and Richard was merely mentioned once in dialogue. I could never make myself believe Aelita wouldn't tell him about her. That became Aelita had a miscarriage instead, but I felt that runs too close to my story "Dirty Little Secret".

Sometimes when you get stuck, you realize you've already written your solution. It was obvious, why did Hannah need to be Ulrich's? I reduced her age, outlined Aelita and Richard's history and the rest came pretty easy. Because I made that one change, I delved into the themes of suicide, parenting, step parents, forgiveness, and renewal. All from Richard being Hannah's dad.

3\. It originally ended with Aelita suggesting they don't get back together.

**Nothing To Love/The Third Love/Porcelain Dolls/The Tour...I had a lot of titles here. (Chapters 9-13)**

1\. This section was meant to be entirely flashback. It was supposed to fill in a few gaps of what Aelita was doing for a few of the five years. In the original draft she wound up traveling around as a crew member with the Porcelain Dolls as a roadie setting up speakers. Richard was the band manager.

2\. Jeanette Palmer was originally the lead singer of the Porcelain Dolls who does to Aelita basically what she did in the finished product. Both of her boyfriends Sven and Adam were present in the story as well, Sven being another roadie and Adam being the band's rhythm guitarist. As in the finished product, Sven and Aelita break up when he hits her, only in this one Adam finds out and breaks his guitar on his head, and not to long later Adam and Aelita go out.

Adam cheats on her with multiple groupies throughout the story until Richard tells him off and he breaks up with her. Richard then inadvertently tells her he was cheating during a concert to which Aelita disrupts the performance by plugging his guitar into feedback loop to make it sound like the band lipsyncs, destroying their reputation.

Richard with no one to manage meets Aelita a few months later, her now working for Alexia Johnston's crew. When he asks what she's been up to, she has him listen to her mixes and he becomes her manager.

Richard comes to the conclusion they need an act so they seek out a vocalist where they find Cynthia Horcroft, who's much younger, only fifteen when they meet her. She's a runaway and Aelita and her live together and still do when Ulrich finds her years later.

3\. When the Porcelain dolls plot was scrapped I went to the Jeanette Palmer tour story line, only it starts at the beginning with Aelita and Adam breaking up. The entire story was this tour, ending with her pregnancy. I kind of wish I used more of this, because Jeanette is probably the worst(morally) character I've ever written, and this is from a guy who wrote a character who takes a school hostage and shoots Aelita in the face execution style.

This one features the balcony, with Aelita hovering over Ulrich's name in her phone as she stepping onto the railing. She hits call and Ulrich answers. The final line was "I just wanted to hear his voice, one last time."

T**he Last Kiss in terms of draft to end is pretty similar, considering I had to build off the previous two. (Chapters 14-22)**

1\. This one actually ended with Aelita not saying yes to Ulrich's proposal because the ending with Richard happened earlier in the story. Aelita cheated on Ulrich because she felt conflicted about the fact she actually loved Richard the same way she did Ulrich. In the end she chooses Richard over Ulrich who leaves broken hearted but understanding, not before punching Richard in the face.

2\. There was an extra chapter where Aelita, Alexia and Cynthia while working on the collaboration realize on accident Aelita actually had a singing voice. They restructure the entire song and instead use it as Aelita's premiere, closing the story with the lyrics of "Toy With Me" (my own creation) maintaining the Porcelain Dolls motif.

* * *

I listened to a lot of music to put myself into the correct frame of mind to write this. Not all of it good. I've grown a deep seething hatred for pop artists as a result of researching music tour horror stories. Most of Aelita's experiences happened to real people.

The bands that heavily influenced the style were bands like Pretty Reckless, In this Moment, and Marian Hill. and artists like Lindsey Stirling, Swan, and Anna Tsuchiya(vocalist for much of the songs from the series Nana).

I liked Marian Hill in particular, whose vocalist Samantha Gongol has one of the sexiest deliveries I've heard in a long time.

I also unfortunately realized I like Selena Gomez's music. It happens to the best of us.

* * *

The alternative story line with Aelita working as a roadie with the Porcelain Dolls might still see the light of day. I have a lot of notes and I don't want to waste them.

Either way, thanks for reading.


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